Library of Congress. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Chap.B-IA 

Shelf .v- B->£ii3 



V 



/ 



1786. i886 

Centennial Celebration 



( ) K -I' H E 



INCORPORATION 



«)K THE 



TOWN OF BOYLSTON 



MASSACHUSEnS 



AUGUST IS, 188B 



WORCESTER, MASS.; 

PRESS OF S A N F O R D & DAVIS 

1S87. 



69781 



Boylston, (Voiii \712 to 1 T^C) known as the Noi'th 
I*ai'isli (>(' Slii'cw.sbiii-y, was iiK'(H-|)()i'a1('(l as a town by 
the Lc;;isIa1iii-(' of Massacliusetts Mai-cli 1, 17«S6, and 
was named in honor ol" VVard iNicliolas IJoyl.stoii, a 
prominent eiti/en ol Hoslon. 



^' 



B0YL8T0N CENTENNIAL 







The diupx^ <jf Bovisior. 


*' eoiuiiKaiiCH:atiiii|r in 


same filili^ ma: 


rsarj of tlif^ 


ineorporatkHi of *. 


at tlie l^Iarch 


nMeetinr of 18*^;. 




ffrKfpeiij ob«r:-'' 


^... ...:. . 


^riated tfjw&: 


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he^d in April 


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ibr andearrr 





♦- AI»icn: w, Aoarevs- 

Ai^ar?ir$. Mts- Joim A. ^arh- 



-ya Prijaiime — Ot?: 



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4 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

Committee on Relics — N. L, KendalV, Jo- ., 

Henry V. Woods. 

Committee on Decorafions — Jamt ^ H. Woods, a M. 

Warner, John Tucker, with several ladies to assist. 

Chairman of Committee on Tents — L. P. Kenf' 

Committee on Programme — L. P. Kendall, _ .ner Shaw, 
A. W. Andrews, G. L. Wright, P. M. Brigham. 

Committee of Soldiers to Accept Tablet — Dea. L, S. Walker, 
William A. Andrews, John G. Warner, Joseph M. Wright, Henry 
White. 

Wednesday, the 18th day of August, was the day fixed on 
for the celebration, and the Committee of Arrangements reported 
the following as the list of officers of the day : 

President — Hon. Phinehas Ball. 

Vice Presidents — Horace Kendall, Ezra Ball, H. H. Brig- 
ham, A. Flagg, A. E. Waterman, Sylvanus Reed, L. L. Flagg, 
Newell Parker, M. Flagg, Henry Hastings, Sanford M. Kendall, 
Robert Andrews, Silas Howe, L. W. Brewer, Leonard Brewer, 
J. B. Cutler, Silas Gleason, \. L. Daggett, J. D. Flagg, James 
Bigelow, W. H. Perry, J. M. Wright, H. V. Woods, Thomas 
Knowlton, N. L. Kendall, James Locke, Abel Brigham. 

Chief Marshal— Eon. Charles B. Pratt. 

Aides to the Chief Blarshal — John W. Howe, J. N. Ball, 
J. W. Flagg, Geo/ge Ball, Alfred G. Larkin. 

The following invitation and programme were issued : 



BOYLSTON CENTENXIAL. 




7) 



e^ tn-e- 

/ / 



HEiSTRY M. SMITH, Esq., of Worcester, (a son-in-law of the 
late Rev. Wm. H. Sanford for many years minister of tlie Toxvn,) 
wiU deliver tlie address, and WILLIAM N. DAVENPORT, Esq., 
of Marlborough, (a native of the Town,) will read the Poem, 
Hon. PHINEHAS BALL, ex-maycr of Worcester, (a native of the 
Town,) win act as President of the Day, and Hon. CHARLES B. 
PRATT, also an ex-mayor of Worcester, (a former resident of the 
Town,) xvill be Chief Marshal. 

It is earnestly hoped as many as possible will be present 
and assist in making the occasion a grand re-union of present 
and past citizens of the Toxwn. 

In behalf of the Town, 

NATHANIEL L. KENDALL, 
JOSEPH M. WRIGHT, 
I^IONTRAX^ILLE FLAGG-, 

Committee on Invitations. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



)U2 

InGorporation of Shrewsbury 
North Parish. 



'ration of the Town 
of Bovlstoii. 






>i< 



1^ 



■U 



OF THE INCOItPOliATlOX OF THE 



J 



ToiLji} t OP t- BogLSToi] 



_^ 



CWedRday, August 18, 18862 



/y. 



President of the Pay, 
HON. PHINEHAS BALL. 

Orator of the Pay, 
HENRY WL. SIVIIXH, ESQ 

Chief Marshal, 
HON. CHARLES B. PRA'ra\ 

AIDES, 

John W. Howe, J. Nelson Ball. 

Alfred G Larkin, J. Walter Flagg, 

Geo. W. Ball, 



TOAST-MASTER, GEOEGE L. WEIGHT. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



^Pregrarnrtie^ 



Ringing of Bells and Firing cf Salutes at Sunrise. 

8 to 8.30 A. M. Field Sports on the Common, under charge of a 
committee consisting of Charles Bray, C W. Moore, M. Flagg Jr. 
Chas. E. Cutler, and Geo. A. Hastings. 

8.30 to 9 o'clock. Selections of Music by the Worcester Brass 
Band, from the Band Stand on the Common, during which time a 
Procession consisting of the Town Officers, Schools, Citizens and 
organizations under the escort of the Worcester Brass Band, and 
Battery " B," M. V. M., under command of Capt. Wellington, will 
form and march around the Commons to the Town Hall, where a 
Memorial Tablet to the memory of Boylston Soldiers who fell 
in the Mexican and Civil Wars, will be presented by George A. 
CoTTiNG, Esq., of Hudson, a former resident of the town, ac- 
companied with appropriate services. 

10 o'clock. EXERCISES IN THE SPEAKERS' TENT. 

Order of Services. 
Music by the Band. 

Invocation and Prayer, . . Rev. Israel Ainsworth. 

Reading of the Scriptures, . Rev. Henry S. Kimball. 

Reading of the Act of Incorporation, 

Henry H, Brigham, Town Clerk. 

PSALM (78.) (Tune Coronation.) Congregation. 

I. III. 

Let children hear the mighty deeds Our lips shall tell them to our sons, 

Which God performed of old; And they again to theirs; 

Which in our younger years we saw, That generations yet unborn 

And which our Fathers told. j May teach them to their heirs. 

IL j IV. 

He bids us make His glories known, | Thus shall ihey learn in God alone 

His works of pow'r and grace; ' Their hope securely stands; 

And we'll convey his wonders down That they may ne'er forget His works, 

Through every rising race. But practice His commands. 

Centennial Address by Henry M Smith, Esq., of Worcester. 
(A son-in-law of Rev. Wm. H. Sanford, for many years minister of the Town.) 

Poem by William N. Davenport, Esq., of Marlboro, 
(A native of the Town.) 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

HYMN (1300). (Tune, Italian Hymn.) Congregation. 

I. I HI. 

Our land with mercies crowned, Dear native land! rejoice; 



This wide enchanting land, 

O God I is thine; 
Our fathers knew thy name; 
The trophies of their fame, — 
Our heritage, — proclaim 

A Power divine. 

II. 

Far in the purple West, 

Thy hand with beauty dressed 

These fertile plains. 
These rivers dark and deep, 
These torrents down the steep. 
These mighty woods that sweep 



Raise thou thy virgin voice 

To God on high; 
From all thy hills and bays. 
From all thy homes and ways, 
Symphonies and praise 

Ascend the sky. 

IV. 

And Thou Almighty One. 
At whose eternal throne 

She bows the kneel 
In all coming time 
Bless Thou this favored clime, 
And may her deeds sublime 



From mountain chains. | Be hymns to Thee. 

Benediction. 

At 12 o'clock M. an Exhibition Drill and Firing of Salutes will take 
place by Battery "B." M. V. M. of Worcester, following which 

Dinner will be Served in a Tent on the Common, 

by J. L. Nugent, Caterer of Clinton. After which Exercises con- 
sisting of Music, Toasts and Speeches, from present and former 
residents and others, will take place in the Speakers' tent. The 
exercises of the day concluding with a Band Concert on the 
Common. 

In the Town House there will be a display of Antique articles and interest- 
ing Relics connected with the history of the Town. 

Jlt^^'A book will be provided at the Town Hall in which all natives, former 
residents and descendants of former residents, are requested to register their 
names and addresses. 

FIELD SPORTS AND GAMES. 

The Field Sports will take place in the forenoon and afternoon 
during Exercises in the Tent, consisting of 

VVlieelbarrow Race. Potato Race, Sack Race, Three-Legged Race, 
Doughiuit Race, Foot Race, Egg Race, Hurdle Race, Greased Pole, 
Tug-of-War. 

The eight first mentioned races will be open to citizens of Boylston and invited 
guests only. The Greased Pole and Tug-of-War will be open to the public. 
Prizes will be offered as follows: 

For each Race the 1st Prize will be $1.00 I Tug-of War, . . . $5.00 

Second Prize will be . , . . .50 | Greased Pole, . . . 2.00 

All races to have at least three entries. Entries to be made with 
Charles Bray, Chairman of the Committee on Sports, on or before the 
Centennial Day. A Game of Base Ball will be played between Saw- 
yer's Mills and Shrewsbury Nines during the day. 



THE DAY'S CELEBRATION. 



Wednesday, the 18th of August opened clear and beautiful, 
while cool breezes tempered the air, making the day perfect. 
The town had put on a holiday dress. The dawn was saluted 
with ringing of bells and firing of cannon, the youth of the 
town generally participating in the latter duty. Tlie Worcester 
Brass Band arrived early on the grounds, and from the band 
stand gave a concert while the procession formed in front of the 
town house, in the following order : 

THE PROCESSION. 

Worcester Brass Band, L. D. Waters leader, 23 pieces. 
Chief Marshal Hon. Charles B. Pratt, of Worcester. 
Aides — John W. Howe, J. Nelson Ball, Alfred G. Larkin, J. Wal- 
ter Flagg, George W. Ball. 
Battery B., of Worcester, Capt. Fred W. Wellington ; 1st Lieut. 
• John B. Merrill ; 1st Sergeant Joseph Bruso, Jr. ; 
Sergeants R. F. Lathe, H.W. Haynes ; 
Guidon, Corp. H. W. Searles, 
35 men. 
The George D. Wells Post, No 28, William G. Haskin, Officer 
of the day in command, 30 men. 
The Boylston Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, five wagons. 
Flora's car of the Grange represented a floral bower, under 



10 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

which sat half a dozen ladies surrounded by flowers and potted 
plants ; the sides of the wagon were inscribed : 

To me belong the forest, the garden and the garlands of flowers; 
and at the end was 

Let flowers be unto you an emblem of hope. 
Next came a wagon with twelve young ladies, dressed in white ; 
next Pomona's car; a wagon load of fruits ; it was covered with 
apples and grapes, and lettered on the sides : 

The lucious products of the orchard and fruit garden are mine. 

At tne rear end of the wagon was 
Let fruits be to you an emblem of faith. 
Seated on the wagon were three ladies. Next came Ceres' 
car, a wagon load of grain, the ladies being decorated with grain. 

It was marked on the sides . 

My tribute is the golden grain, 
and at the end was : 

Let corn ever be unto you an emblem of charity. 
Behind this were two barges with members of the Grange. 



THE TABLET PRESENTATION. 

The march was about the common and up to the band 
stand, where the services of presentation of the Memorial Tablet 
to the soldiers who fell in the Mexican and civil wars took place. 
This Tablet is the gift of George A. Cotting, Esq., of Hudson, 
a former resident of Boylston. It is of white marble with a 
gilt band, and bears the following inscription in gilt letters: 

THIS TABLET, 

Erected on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Boylston by George A. Cot- 
ting, is in commemoration of the valor of its citizens, who died in the great 
civil war of 1801 to preserve the unity of our country. 

John R. Roberts, Private Co. K, 2d Reg. Mass. Vol. Killed at Battle of 
Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug 9, 1^62. JE 25 yrs. He was the first soldier 
enlisted from Boylston. 

Elliot J. Flagg, Private Co. I, 4th Reg. N. Y. Vols Killed at Battle of 
Antietam, Md„ Sept. 17th, 1862. JE 23 years. 

James H. W^ilson, Private Co. L, 21st Reg. Mass. Vols. Died of wounds 
at Fredericksburg, Va,, Dec. 15th, 18G2. M 28 years. 

Albert Hastings. Private Co. E, 21st Reg. Mass. Vols. Died at Camp Nel- 
son, Ky., April 12th, 1864. JE 24 years. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 11 

John W. Partridge, Private Co. I), 'ijth Keg. Mass. Vols. Died at Auder- 
sonville, Ga., May, 2864. JE 29 years. 

George W. Brewer, Corp. Co. D, 25th Reg. Mass. Vols. Killed at Cold 
Harbor, on June 3d, 18G4. JE 23 years. 

Watson Wilson, Private Co. I, 36th Reg. Mass. Vols. Died ol wounds at 
Washington, D. C, June 28th, 1864. JE 22 years. 

John M. Forbes, Sergt. Co. C, 34th Reg. Mass. Vols. Died at Salisbury, 
N. C, Sept. 27lh, 1864. JE 25 years, 

Ferdinand Andrews, Corporal Co. D, 25th Reg. Mass. Vol. Died at Boyls- 
ton, Mass , Nov. 26th, 1864. JE 25 years. 

George C. Flagg, Private Co. F., Mass. Vols, in Mexican war, at 17. S. 
Hospital Barracks, New Orleans, July 26th, 1848. /E 24 years. 

August 18, 1886. 



The exercises were simple but of great interest. Mr. Cot- 
ting presented the Tablet in a brief add re.ss as follows : 

Mr. President, Ex- Soldiers, and Citizens of Boy Is Inn : — It 
is a great pleasure to me to be with you on this centennial cele- 
bration of the incorporation of the town of Boylston, here to 
make my contribution to the memory of the valor of those brave 
and patriotic sons who volunteered their services and laid down 
their lives in defense of the Union of our country. Their deeds 
of valor and patriotism should ever be brought before the young 
men of this great Republic so that when our country is in jeop- 
ardy by foes within, or without, there will be those to imitate 
those fallen and these living comrades who are before us. 

Although this is a small and sparsely inhabited town, it has 
always given its full quota of defenders of the country in its time 
of need, from the time of its incorporation to the end of the 
late civil war. 

When it was a part of Shrewsbury and Lancaster this terri- 
tory gave more than its proportion in its defence against the 
Indians and support of the Revolution ; many lost their lives in 
action, more died by hardship and sickness, whose names are 
carefully preserved in the history of those towns. All honor to 
their names. 

In the war of 1812 this town filled its quota of men required, 
and every man safely returned to his home. 

We have one of those 1812 i?oldiers with us to-day in yonder 



12 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

carriage, who is nearly as old as this town, and is able to be with 
us to celebrate and grace this occasion with these boys in blue, 
who now stand before you. 

In the Mexican war one young man, an only son of Francis 
Flagg, left his home with his father's consent, went to Boston 
and enlisted in our only Massachusetts Regiment. George G. 
Flagg, private, Company F, Massachusettt Regiment, died at 
United Stales Hospital Barracks, New Orleans, La., July 26, 
1848, aged 24 years. He was a dutiful son, a brave and gallant 
soldier, was in several hard fought actions with the Mexicans and 
received the commendation of his commander. 

John R. Roberts, a young man who came to this town to 
work on our farms, was the first man to put his name on paper 
for the defense of the Union of this Government, and was the 
first Boylston man to fall by a rebel bullet at the fiercely contested 
battle of Cedar Mountain, where Company K, Second Regiment 
Massachusetts Volunteers, so bravely fought August 9th, 1862. 
He was 25 years old. 

Elliott J. Flagg, private. Company I, Fourth Regiment New 
York Volunteers, killed at the battle of Antietam, Md., Sep- 
tember 17th, 1862, aged 23 years. I knew him as a bright boy, 
while a member of the Center School, and living on yonder hill. 
He was a fine young man. 

James H. Wilson, private. Company E, Twenty-first Regi- 
ment Massachusetts Volunteers, died of wounds received iu that 
hard disastrous battle at Fredericksburg, Val, December 15th, 
1862, aged 28 years. He has a brother with us to-day, an ex- 
soldier. 

Albert S. Hastings, private. Company E, Twenty-first Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts Volunteers, died in Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 
April 12th, 1864. He was born in that part of Boylston known 
as East Woods. When quite young his parents moved to the 
farm which Mr. Augustus Flagg now owns and resides on. He 
attended the Six Nations District School, became a Land Surveyor 
and Civil Engineer, and when not occupied in his profession, 
worked with his father on the farm. Being full of patriotism he 
went to the defense of his country, served out his term of enlist- 
ment, and then re-enlisted, his fate being not to die on the field 



IIOVLSTOX CKNTKNXIAL. io 

of battle, but in camp from sickness. He was a brave and 
good boy. 

George VV. Brewer, corporal. Company D, Twenty- fiftli Regi- 
ment Massachusetts Yolunteors, killed at the battle oi' Cold Har- 
bor, Va , June Hd. 1864, aged 23. He knew no fear, was a 
member of the i^outh District School, enlisted Deceml^erlS, 1863. 
His aged father is with us to-day. 

John W. Partridge, private, Company D, Twenty-lifth Regi- 
ment Massachusetts Volunteers, served last in the Signal service. 
Taken prisoner and confined in that fatal prison, to so many brave 
sons of the North, he died from neglect and cruel star- 
vation at Andersonville, Ga., some time in the month of May, 
1864. He was the senior of his fallen comrades, an only son, 
well educated, a school-mate with young Brewer, and respected 
by his townsmen. His mother and youngest sister are with us 
to-day. 

Watson Wilson, private Company 1, Thirty-sixth Regiment, 
Massachusetts Volunteers, died of wounds at Washington, D. C, 
June 28, 1864, aged 22 years. He was the youngest of the fallen 
from this town. 

John M. Forbes, sergeant, Company C, Thirty-lourth Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts Volunteers, died at Salsbury, N. C, Janu- 
ary 13, 1865, aged 26 years. He was born and educated in the 
East School District, was a brave soldier, was taken prisoner and 
inhumanly used in prison. His comrades can testify to his gal- 
lantry and to. the nobility of his character. His word was as 
good as his bond. His mother and only sister are with us to-day. 

Ferdinand Andrews, corporal, Company D, Twenty-fifth Reg- 
iment, Massachusetts Volunteers, who came ho^ie with his com- 
pany at the expiration of three years enlistment, but too sick 
and feeble to receive a discharge with his comrades, died in the 
service of his country November 26, 1864, aged 26. His hon- 
ored dust rests in yonder cemetery, where you, ex-soldiers and 
citizens of Boylston, can decorate his grave with flowers and drop 
a tear in remembrance of the aforesaid comrades who rest in 
unmarked and unknown graves, and whose names are cut upon 
this tablet. 

Gentlemen, Selectmen, I now present this Memorial Tablet, 



14 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

through you to the town of Boylston, placed in your Town Hall, 
you to cherish it as a tribute of honor to those valiant men who 
fell in defense of the unity of our government. 

At the close of Mr. Cotting's remarks the band played the 
Soldiers Funeral Hymn, and prayer was offered by Rev. George 
S. Ball, of Upton. The tablet was then accepted by Mr. Augus- 
tus Flagg, in behalf of the town, who said : 

Mr. Catting' : In behalf of the town of Boylston we accept 
the Tablet presented by you, and we thank you heartily for this 
munificent gift. Indeed, if it is possible to express our feelings 
in stronger language, we are grateful, all the more so because it 
has been given by one who was formerly one of our highly re- 
spected citizens, and who has alwa^'S taken a deep interest in tlie 
welfare and well-being of our town : all the more so liecause your 
name is inscribed with those of our fallen heroes. The inscrip- 
tions engraved upon this beautiful tablet are highly suggestive, — 
They will tell to future generations more than any historian has 
ever written ; it tells more than any historian can ever write It 
tells of self-forgetting, of unbounded consecration and supreme 
devotion to our beloved country. It speaks of sacrifices made 
by fathers and mothers, by wives and children. It tells of the 
sacrifices of those who left their homes never to return. It tells 
of sufferings in camp and on the march, on the battle-field and 
in prison. Again, sir, we thank you for your benevolence, and 
patriotism, and be assured if any of us survive you when we 
are gathered on Memorial Day to scatter flowers over the graves 
of our fallen comrades your grave will not be forgotten. 

Mr. Lyman S. Walker spoke for the Grand Army : 

Mr. Chairman., Comrades., Ladies and Gentlemen : — A 
pleasant task devolves upon me to-day, and I would that I had 
language to portray my feelings upon this occasion. 

In behalf of the Comrades of Boylston, I am called upon to 
accept the beautiful Tablet, with the names of all the deceased 
Soldiers inscribed thereon, presented to the Town by a former 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 15 

citizen. A noble deed, and one which will endear him to every 
living comrade. An act which will cause his name to be loved 
and cherished by many yet unborn, years after his remains lie 
mouldering in the dust. The mother of the boy who died in 
the great cause, and whose name is inscril)ed upon the Tablet, 
will look upon it, and receive comfort from it. 

The widow whose husband died that the nation might live, 
may point her fatherless boy to his father's name that he may 
derive fresh supplies of patriotic inspiration from it. 

Old age and lisping childhood may visit this Memorial, and 
be inspired by its solemn teachings ; and there, in the eternal mar- 
ble shall those names remain, growing brighter and brighter as the 
years recede. 

Of all the names mentioned on this Tablet, I was acquainted 
with only one, that one was John Forbes ; he belonged to the same 
Regiment and Company, and I knew him well ; I knew him as a 
true and brave man ; a man who was strictly temperate in his 
habits, ever faithful in his duty, and a great lover of home. I can 
remember how his eyes would sparkle when a message came from 
lionie, and also how sad he would look when he received none. 
Ou a beautiful day in Oct. 1864, when nature shone in all its 
beauty through the Shenandoah Valley, we were encamped near 
Cedar Creek. Some were writing letters home, others reading, 
and some passing away the time with a game of whist, and, as 
we supposed, all was going on smoothly, when a shell exploded 
in our midst, and all was changed, as in the twinkling of an eye. 
We hurried into line, and went forth to fight, and do our duty. 

Our Regiment was badly cut up, and many fell to rise no more. 
John Forbes was taken prisoner, and I never saw him again. I 
was told by another comrade that lie was carried to the hospital, 
and a few days later he there looked upon his lifeless corpse in a 
nude state ; he now lies in an unknown grave. This is but one 
case of the many thousands who died that the country might live. 

Comrades, we are called upon to-day to guard and protect 
this Tablet. Let no man dare bring reproach upon these names 
inscril)ed thereon. 

They had their vices, also their virtues ; let him that is per- 
fect cast the first stone. Now to you Mr. Chairman, and to you, 



16 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

the donor of this beautiful Tablet, I wouhl say in l)elialf of the 
comrades, we will guard it well, we will guard it while we live. 
and will endeavor to teach our posterity, as they look upon it 
from time to time, to be true to their country and the old flag ; 
and when the great nation for which they died shall finally have 
achieved its full mission, and there shall be no spot upon the face 
of the globe where the equality of man is not recognized, the 
names of these men inscribed upon the brightest rolls of this 
world's history, shall challenge the admiration of all the ages. 
That this may be so, we devotedly pray ; that it shall be so, we 
pledge ourselves. 



THE LITERARY EXERCISES. 

The procession then reformed and marched to the tent, where 
the literary exercises took place. Meanwhile people had assem- 
bled in crowds, and the common and the tents presented a lively 
appearance everywhere ; old residents were meeting and welcom- 
ing each other. 

Among the older jjcrsons present were Abel Farwell, 95, and 
Ezra Ball, 91, both 1812 veterans, and Luther Brigham, 8t), all 
residents of the town ; Mrs. W. H. Sanford, of Worcester, widow 
of a former pastor, and Mrs. Andrew Bigelow, widow of an old 
pastor, now of Southborough, and a daughter of Hoil Marshall 
P. Wilder. 

On a table in the tent was a collection of photographs of the 
Bush family, with an ideal view of the old family residence ; Col. 
Jotham Bush, his wife, son and brothers, and a number of their 
descendants were included in the frame, which proved of the 
greatest interest 1o many old residents. Dr. William A. IIol- 
combe of New York, a grandson of Col. Bush, arranged the group. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 3 7 

Hon. Phinehas Ball presided in the tent. The exercises 
took place in the following order : 

Music by the Band. 

Invocation and Prayer by tiie Kev. Israel Ainsworth. 
Beading of tlie Scriptures by the Rev. Henry S. Kimball. 
Reading of the Act of Incorporation by 

Henry H. Brigham, Esq., Town Clerk. 
Singing of the Lxxviii Psalm by the audience. 

Tlie President in inti-oducing the Orator of tlie Day said : 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Boi/lston, Fellow Kin- 
dred and Invited Guests: — We assemble to-day in obedience to 
one of the deepest instincts of the human heart — that of the love 
of home — in response to the tender, the enduring and sacred 
memory of one's birthplace. For it matters not whether we first 
saw light and were taught to lisp our motlier tongue amid the 
scenery and l)loom of a second edition of the Garden of Eden, or 
in tlie humble cottage nestling amid the rocks and woods untouched 
by the hand of man ; the warm impulses of our hearts cherish 
with lasting emotion the vivid recollection of those early scenes, 
and those of our nearest kindred, who shared and enjoyed and 
bore with us our early lot. To cease from our ordinary cares 
and labors, and to bring back the memories of these early scenes : 
to greet again the friends and associates of our youth among the 
living, or to make up the soul's mementoes of the larger number 
of early companions and kin among the dead ; to renew old 
friendships, to be introduced to the children and grand-children 
of tlie fathers and mothers wliom we knew. To these ends let us 
dedicate and consecrate these few hours. 

On this Centennial of the Town let us not stop to commune 
with ourselves alone. Let us here remember, with ever increas- 
ing gratitude and reverent honor, those noble ancestors of ours, 
whose wise forethought, whose labors amid privation and hard- 
ship, built the corporate existence of this town. To them we owe 
a debt which can only be repaid by gratitude for what they have 
done for us, by cherishing their memories and by living virtuous 
and honorable lives. 



18 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

To the celebration of the Centennial of the Town of Boylston 
its citizens bid us a cordial, hearty and open-handed welcome, 
one and all. Let us enter into the festivities of the occasion with 
earnestness and sincerity, thanking our kind friends of the town 
for the opportunity thus afforded us to gain an acquaintance with 
its present people and the descendants of the founders of the 
town. 

Of the history of the town it is not mine to speak ; that task 
lias been wisely allotted to one of the sons of Boylston, made 
such by that mysterious human bond analogous to that which the 
old chemists called '• elective affinity ; " in other words, he mar- 
ried one of the daughters of the town, and thereby became one of 
its sons. I now have the pleasure and honor of introducing to 
you Henry M. Smith, Esq., of Worcester, as orator of the day. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



Ten years ago, at Philadelphia, with a pomp and circum- 
stance befitting a great occasion, our nation celebrated its one 
hundredth birthday. With wide-spread preparation and costly 
expenditure in assembling the material tokens of our century of 
progress, we passed in review before the enlightened peoples of 
the earth. Since then, there have been numerous occasions, 
similar in meaning, varying in prominence, but with a common 
interest. It has been a decade consecrated to the memories of 
our national past. 

Two years ago, the neighboring city of Worcester turned the 
pages of her history of two hundred years. Since then Spring- 
field, and still later Albany, have reviewed their still longer 
periods. 

The longest lapse of time that holds the records of an 
American community, at first glance, seems insignificant, meas- 
ured on the Old World's calendars. This year Lucerne cele- 
brates the five hundredth anniversary of the battle of Sempach, 
which secured Swiss independence. In England, within the 
present month, the town of Kipon observes its one thousandth 
birthday ; her chronicles go back to Royal Alfred and the Danish 
invasion. 

But the Muse of History has no sneer for our American 
past, though its whole story is contained in these few generations 
of men. Within very recent years, history has reformed her 
methods and has begun to tell the story of the common people, — 
the massed experiences of average communities, in distinction 



20 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

from the embroidered chronicles of kings and great commanders. 
Our American anniversary celebrations, of the past ten years, 
have stirred deeply the fountains of our local annals. 

The reader and the student of tliis, and coming time, can 
understand the order of facts and the meaning of our early 
days, far better than preceding generations could have done, 
though nearer to the events themselves. Never has history, and 
that philosophy of history, found richer treasures than have been 
supplied by our modern town historians. 

We come together to-day, on this beautiful common, to cele- 
brate the one hundredth anniversary of this representative Massa- 
chusetts hill town. It has a character, possessed from its ear- 
liest past, which must be understood if we would understand this 
old Commonwealth, and the sources of the influence Massachu- 
setts has had upon other commonwealths. For us here to-day 
two dates stand opposed — 1786-1886. 

But, as in our national celebration, ten years ago, the event 
we commemorate is only in a limited sense initial. The nation 
was shaped in the colonial period, and tested and tempered in 
the red heat of the Revolution, before it began to live a separate 
existence. It had passed through a century and a half of expe- 
rience before 1776 ; an experience never again to be repeated 
by any of earth's people, the founding of a nation in the will 
derness. 

The story of every town and hamlet that shared this early 
period of the nation is a page of national history. 

The pleasant town of Boylston, with its story of one hun- 
dred years, the Hrst century of its existence, had a history before 
1786, a history that took in the life and labors of two preceding 
generations of her citizens. From this earlier date of 1786, as 
our mount of vision, let us take the backward look. 

Boylston derives her greatest antiquity from motherly Lan- 
caster, from which came one-quarter of her territory, but she is 
chiefly the daughter of Shrewsbury, and grand-daughter of Marl- 
})orough, who sending hither her sons one hundred and sixty years 
ago, is to-day represented here by a son of Boylston birth she 
has herself delighted to honor, the bearer of grand-motherly 
congratulations. 



EOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 21 

Moreover, Boylston is the mother of West Boylston. Thus 
the labors of local annalists in four contributing towns, may be 
searched for the story of Boylston. It has been Wiitten into 
them all. A word as to the place of the hill towns in the ordei- 
of her early settlements. The home government, so lavish in 
bestowing wilderness grants as to be willing to slice a continent 
from sea to sea, set a very liberal example for those who, under 
the first colonial charters, parted the wilderness with unstinted 
hands. 

They give to individuals to reward service, or increase emolu- 
ment ; or demonstrate patronage to new settlements, or to church 
organizations. There were considerations still plainly to be dis- 
cussed, why the first settlers sought far and wide for the meadow 
lands ; the broad intervale that lay like rare oases in the else- 
where wilderness of woods and broken hills. These pleasing 
meads were ready to be occupied with little labor. They were 
richest in suggesting to the English settlers. They gave ready 
fodder for English stock. There were not many of these spots, 
they were wide apart. 

Lancaster became the oldest town in this county for such a 
reason. They of Brookfield planted homes in a perilous region, 
thirty miles away from their nearest and only neighbors in Lan- 
caster, Springfield and Hadley, because they were in love with 
the " six miles square near Quaboag pond." 

The heart of the future commonwealth was a region of rug- 
ged hills, deep veined by frequent streams whose currents clogged 
by the beaver and his fellows, turned the narrow valleys into dis- 
mal bogs. What is now Worcester county, seems to have come 
first into Massachusetts annals in 1633, when Governor Winthrop 
saw from an eminence in Watertown " a very high hill due West 
about forty miles off," and so old Wachusett got his first mention 
as sentinel among inland hills. 

And when nearly one hundred years later there was the 
movement, which became succcsslul in 1731, to form Worcester 
county, with thirteen towns, his Majesty's representatives met the 
proposition with discouragement. Governor Belcher demurritig, 
and Thomas Hutchinson, afterwards Governor, but then a mem- 
ber of the General Court, strenuously opposing the project for the 



22 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

new county, declaring " the unpracticability of its ever making- 
anj^ progress for this hill country could never attract settlers." 

Marlborough, settled in 1660, had her share in the red letter 
days of Indian troubles. At the end of King Philip's affair in 
1676, she was still a frontier settlement with no town west this 
side of tlie Connecticut river, Lancaster, Brookfield and Spring- 
field having been wiped out. Marlborough herself had suffered 
sorely, for she was visited and burned in 1676, but her settlers 
began to come back the next year, and in 1680 had rebuilt their 
meeting-house, thatching it with straw. In 1688 they erected 
another in its place that stood until 1809, a worthy type of that 
permanence in doctrine which gave them in 1679 a church cove- 
nant that was used by the church until 1837. That was the 
brave, staunch old grand-mother of Boylston. 

By 1706 Marlborough had so well strengthened itself that 
John Brigham and thirty others went out to establish Shrews- 
bury, and the borough towns began to be set off from her terri- 
tory, Westborough leading the list. Marlborough had voted con- 
cerning one of these off-shoots, as a rule for all, that if these 
outgoing settlers " see fit to build another meeting-house, and 
are able to do so, and maintain a minister then the division to 
be made." 

Shrewsbury was liberally endowed, by the General Court, 
with a territory fifteen miles long, extending from Lancaster at 
the north, to Sutton on the south, and from three to four miles 
wide, lying between what was then Marlborough and Worcester. 
The committee appointed to lay out and apportion the tract fin- 
ished their labors in 1718. 

But the general reasons, already referred to, as discrimina- 
ting against the hill towns, seemed for a time to weigh very 
strongly against the Shrewsbury township. Early chroniclers 
did not hesitate to declare that it was " not a good parcel of 
land." It was rough and uneven. Its good lands had been so 
frequently and relentlessly burned over by the Indians, and inter- 
lopers from other towns, that vast tracts of forest stood blackened 
and ruined, in many places the soil itself being burned down to 
hard-pan. 

One early writer declared that little use was ever likely to 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 23 

be made of it but " to pass over it to a better place." Write as 
the poets may of "the forest primeval," the condition of sav- 
agery cannot even care for its own forests. Tlie woods of this 
region are far more dense and luxuriant to-day tlian they were 
when the red man kept them dwarfed and scrubby with forest 
fires. 

But the territory that became Boylston, held grants of land 
older and of different derivation from the Shrewsbury grant, 
or the portion set off from Lancaster. In 1655 the church in 
Maiden received from the General Caiirt a grant of nine hundred 
acres. The name is perpetuated in the Maiden Hill, a prominent 
feature in your western landscape. Ward, in his History of 
Shrewsbury, calls this a " pretended grant," but it is referred to 
in the Maiden town records, in 1736, as the " Town Farm in 
Worcester or Shrewsbury," and action was taken to protect the 
rights of the town thereon, it having been invaded by squatters. 

In 1659, another grant, still more closely a Boylston posses- 
sion, was the six hundred and fifty acres given to Richard Daven- 
port, ancestor of a long and well-known Boylston family, from 
one of whose descendants you are to hear to-day. Davenport was 
a man of note, a commander at Castle Island, where he was 
killed by lightning in 1665. 

Of this Davenport tract there remains the interesting me- 
mento and monument in the tree still standing in the road, below 
the Clarendon Mills toward Clinton, which was made the start- 
ing point by the surveyors of the tract two hundred and twenty- 
seven years ago, and is referred to as " a great white oak." It 
is twenty feet seven inches in circumlerence at the ground, and 
one of the few historic trees of this region. Its trunk is said 
to be well filled with iron spikes hammered stoutly home by Ezra 
Beaman's own hand, to induce all future woodmen to " spare 
that tree." 

In the grant to Shrewsbury the provision appears, " that 
they have at least forty families settled, with an orthodox minis- 
ter within the space of three years, for whom allotment of land 
was to be made, and another for the use of the school." Towns 
thus founded were sure to be divided, and again divided, when- 
ever distance measured on blazed tracks, or cart paths through 



24 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAX. 

the woods, made church going a burden, too hard for endurance, 
by any neighborhood whose numbers were sufficient to set up a 
church of its own. 

The founding of Shrewsbury went forward in the spirit of 
those days, the central point and mainspring, a meeting house, 
and a godly minister. Very little can be told of the early his- 
tory of what is now Boylston. The farm, later held by Rev. 
Ward Cotton, was occupied a number of years before any other 
settlement in the vicinity of the meeting house, and the com- 
mon. 

Several settlers by the name of Keyes came to a large tract 
of land in what is now the south part of Boylston, as early as 
1720. 

Among the settlers immediately, or within the first few 
years were those who bore the names of Brigham, Sawyer, Ben- 
net, Starr, Bigelow, Hastings, Taylor, Ball, Newton, Keyes, 
Temple, Flagg, Howe, Bush, Davenport, Wheeler, Andrews ; and 
these names, or nearly all of them have always had a familiar 
Boylston sound. As the the first settlers in the northwest part 
of this town, William and Nathaniel Davenport, descendants of 
the first owner came, in 1736, to the Davenport tract, portions 
of which were occupied by the eighth generation of the family. 

The first settlers in the territory that became Boylston, 
divided their attendance at Lord's Day services between Shrews- 
bury and Lancaster, finding their way through forest bridle paths 
and fording the streams as they came to them, realizing what 
their neighbors of Bolton, about the same time, in their petition 
to the General Court, called the " making the Sabbath, which 
should be a day of rest, a day of the hardest labor." 

There are those who affect to si.eer at the pious considera- 
tions that guided the founding and division and growth of our 
New England towns. 

Benjamin Franklin will not ])e deemed a bigot of his time. 
In his recently published correspondence is given his letter writ- 
ten in 1787, to one presumably a Governor of Georgia, wherein 
he praises in high terms the New England method of establishing 
the settlements, with the meeting house and schools expressly 
secured as central features. He declares this is •' excellent for 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 25 

mutual protectioH, for the advantage of schooling to their children, 
for securing morals by the influence of religion, and for mutual 
improvement by civil society, and conversation," in comparison 
with wliich he declares that " In our way of sparse and remote 
settlements the people are without these advantages and we are 
in danger ot bringing up a set of savages of our own color.'* 

So well did what is now Boylston defeat the inauspicious 
earlier auguries derived from its rough hills, that in 1742 it at- 
tempted to secure a formal separation from iShrewsbury, urging 
as a reason, distance from the meeting house. This town might 
have been 1-44 years old at the present time but for the opposi- 
tion of Shewsbury and Gov. Shirley's petulant veto. He objects 
to the multiplication of towns as being as undesirable in his 
majesty's interests for it meant an increase of representatives 
that might l)e troublesome. Instead of a separate town it became 
on December 1~, 1742, the North Parish of Shrewsbtiry. 

The records show that the North Parish began to pay for 
preaching on the first Sabbath after being set off. Before June 
the meeting house was begun, and in October the church was 
organized and the first minister ordained, though the sanctuary 
had neither floor, windows nor doors, pulpit nor pew. 

Nineteen male members and sixteen female members were 
dismissed from the mother church in Shrewsbury. "The minis- 
try lands lying within the North Parish " were set off to be 
" always for the use and improvement of the minister tluit may 
be settled in the north part aforesaid," and in consideration of 
the " right and interest in the meeting house," in Shrewslniry 
£32 10s. lawful money were to be paid over "when the North 
Parish, erected and covered a suitable frame for a meeting house 
for the worship of (rod among them." 

These facts are honoral)le to the founders of these hill com- 
munities. The spirit of the pious Pilgrims was brought here 
undiminished in meaning, though the first colonial period had 
passed away. 

The story of events l)eforc the organization of a separate 
town in 1788 comes from scanty records and must be briefly told. 
The most painstaking research by the competent historians in 
this region, and these are numerous, gives very little, a glimpse 



26 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

here and there, of the liome life of the rural community in the 
early part of the past century. 

We might be sure however, that life was not dull, nor un- 
thoughtful, which called for so constant and vivid struggle for 
common things and common needs. It did not lack excitement, 
for it was not sheltered by the walls of modern life, nor could it 
be called narrow, forced as these settlers were to share the cares 
of government in such a nation-building as this earth has only 
once seen, and shall never see again. 

In this there would seem to have been very little Indian 
history. In the grant from and through Shrewsbury, no Indian 
name appears, all aboriginal titles having been extinguished by 
the General Court. In the northwest part of the town of Boyl- 
ston, set otf from Lancaster, the Indian associations were more 
direct, and, here is presented almost the sole incident of Indian 
war adventure to an inhabitant of this town ; the often told 
experiences of Thomas Sawyer in 1705, carried off in an Indian 
raid, and ransoming himself and his companions in captivity by 
building a saw mill for the Canadian authorities. 

Nevertheless, with the first settlers in this region, the whole 
story of Indian troubles was still comparatively fresh. Sudbury 
tight lived in the memory of the elders, or with a generation only 
once removed. The fresh romance of the Rice l)oys captured by 
a war party in 1704, in a Marlborough meadow, was sure to be 
kept alive by the fact that the lads were adopted by the Indians, 
and one had become a sachem. 

Though no Indians ever actually brought disturbance to the 
settlement on and about this hill, the constant dread remained 
through many of these earlier years. There were two garrison 
houses, defenses on the nortli and east, in this immediate vicin- 
ity, another in the west part of the town near Stony Brook. The 
farmers carried firearms to church and field. The slender news 
channels of the day were kept vivid with Indian rumors. 

Nor was the reason wholly withdrawn. In 1747 w^e find the 
town of Rutland petitioning the General Court to fortify their 
town against the common enemy, and all the able bodied men 
were drawn by the Selectmen for scouting. 

In 1747, John Fitch (who gave his name to Fitcliburg) , was 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 27 

carried off to Canada by a French and Indian war party. Holmes 
finely suggests the clinging tenacity of the Indian terror, when 
the venerable grandmother of a Boston household, on the day of 
the Bunker Hill fight, in her frenzy of alarm at the heavy din, 
is made to exclaim, 

"Are tliey Indians ? Are they Indians ?" 

It is told of a Boylston housewife of the early time, that 
having hung her dinner pot on the crane, she ran off to Marl- 
borough in a sudden panic, returning a year after to find her 
kitchen affairs just as she had left them. 

Hurrounded as we are by the eternal means and stimulants 
to education, and accepting them as indispensable in our time, we 
are not to forget how good a school of development, in all that is 
noble and enduring, was supplied by the conditions of the New 
England settlement, in the middle period between the retirement 
of the savages and the establishment of separate national 
existence. 

With Indian wars and rumors of wars, with the old French 
wars, that made no small drafts in these communities, there was 
a constant drill and training in citizen watch and ward. Arms 
were never out of their hands, nor preparation for defense long 
absent from their minds. Shrewsbury shared in 1745 in the 
expedition to Louisburg and Cape Breton. Men of Shrewsbury, 
and what is now Boylston, were present at Crown Point in 1755. 

Two sons of Phineas Bennet, a settler in 1740 in the west 
part of this town now West Boylston, were both killed in the 
disastrous "morning fight" at Ticonderoga in 1758. Then 
came the Revolutionary war in which Boylston shared the nota- 
ble annals of Shrewsbury. 

It was in Shrewsbury, ten months before the Boston Tea 
Party, that a travelling pedler was made to surrender to be 
burned forthwith, thirty pounds of the prohibited herb, before 
this banned by town decree. It was Shrewsbury in 1744 that 
Ross Wyman called his Blacksmiths' Convention at Worcester, 
pledging their king of all the crafts, in that day, to do no work 
for the tories. 

Our centennial national reviews have flashed a broad clear 



28 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

light on the revolutionary epoch, to show that it was no sudden 
fervor but had strengthened in many neighborhoods and through 
many channels, in more than one generation. And when it 
came, it came to a people who had learned the art and spirit of 
defense, and shrunk not from self assertion. 

But Boylston had her especial and equal share at the very 
threshold of the contest with the mother country. It was a 
struggle between parish and minister, after twenty-five years of 
mutually honored and happy relations. From Ward's history of 
Shrewsbury it appears that all the persons suspected of too much 
loyalty except one were inhabitants of this North Parish. 

Among these five martyrs under suspicion was Rev. Mr. 
Morse, the first pastor of the church, a learned and widely-read 
man, staunch and immovable, who would continue to pray in 
public for the kirg, queen and royal family, until his people and 
townsmen called him to account, disarmed him and prevented 
him by a show of force from entering his pulpit. They could 
not drive him away, but they used his steely loyalty to whet the 
edges of their patriotism. 

These are but shallow students of the Revolutionary period, 
who do injustice to the position and motives of men who were in 
that time held by circumstances of trust, and tie, to impulses as 
genuine as ever bound the subject in loyalty to his king. 

The greater is the honor and reverence due to the patriots 
of that time, from this fact that the loyalists of regions like our 
own in Worcester County, were men of mark and strength who 
gave way not as reeds bend, but as strong oaks break. Rev. 
Mr. Morse lived at the close of the era of greatest ministerial 
dignity, and authority. For a quarter of a century he had ex- 
ercised the authority of the New Testament bishop, 

All the more striking, the patriotism of these Boylston men 
who did their duty, though the red line of excision ran through 
their own pulpit. 

It is only from the meagre and scattered annals assembled 
from various towns of this region, that we gain a glimpse of the 
burdens and privations of the Revolution, and the resorts forced 
upon the poorer communities to adjust patriotism to poverty. 
As an instance in the town of Ward, now Auburn, in this county. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 29 

Thomas Todd, one of the town quota, accepted as bounty from 
his town " eighteen calves of middleing value, the calves to be 
kept and cared for free of charge for the three years term of 
service." 

Boylston had her share, as part of Shrewsbury, in the 
honors that fell to their townsman. General Artemas Ward, a 
member of the Second Provincial Congress, appointed Comman- 
der-in-Chief of the Armies of Congress, until a greater than he 
appeared, even Washington. And Boylston had more exclusive- 
ly for herself, Ezra Beaman. One cannot read very far in the 
annals of that time, in this region without coming upon his name. 
It stood out as prominently as his great wayaide inn, the Bea- 
man Tavern overlooking the beautiful intervale of what is now 
West Boylston, for more than a century from 1764, one of the 
best known inns of New England. The largest land-holder of 
his section, lion-like and masterful in action, Ezra Beaman's 
name is continually repeated in town and church records. It 
was his grasp that laid hold on Pastor Morse. It was his com 
pany that was prompt in field. He was in service near, though 
not on duty at Bunker Hill fight. 

To Capt. Ezra Beaman, on Feb. 18, 1775, came a letter of 
acknowledgement from John Avery of the " Committee of Dona- 
tions," at Boston, for fifty-three bushels of rye and corn sent by 
the North Parish of Shrewsbury, " for the distressed inhabitants 
of this poor devoted town who are groaning under the rod of 
despotism ; " so reads the missive. The names of forty pension- 
ers of the war of the Revolution are given in Shrewsbury annals. 

The growth of the North Parish of Shrewsbury, even in the 
trying period of the Revolution, kept alive its long cherished 
ambition (defeated 1742) to be a separate town. It was accom- 
plished in 1786, the occasion we this day commemorate. It was 
a wonderful birth year, one of the most important and the most 
critical in the history of America. It seemed as if the free and 
generous spirit of devotion that had sustained the American 
colonies had actually burned itself out, and lay smothered in its 
own ashes. 

Tlie separate and disjointed provinces were jarring (almost 
warring; with each other. The Provincial Congress seemed to 



30 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

have already collapsed. The separate states paying their own 
representatives to that body, often omitted paying or grossly 
neglected representation Thus the congress from thirteen states 
which should have numbered fifty- six members fell to thirty-five. 
There was a bitter wrangle between contiguous states over ques- 
tions of trade, finance and of territory. Massachusetts closed 
her ports to British shipping, Connecticut threw her ports open 
to British vessels, but established imposts against Massachusetts. 
New York levied duties at Hell Gate on all Yankee crafts, on 
all hay and wood and supplies that crossed her borders from 
Connecticut, and on all market boats that came over from Jersey. 

Jefferson writes from Paris to protest against the intention 
of Kentucky to separate not only from Virginia, but from the 
Union. Pennsylvania with blood and fire was raiding Connecti- 
cut settlers out of the historic valley of the Wyoming, and New 
Hampshire and New York were crossing bayonets on the soil of 
Vermont. 

Massachusetts had trouble enough at home in the Shay 
Rebellion. The population of this state was about 350,000. All 
the states lay under the shadow of debt. Everywhere debtors 
were massed for mutual protection. Six years before 1786 the 
paper war issues of New England had ceased to circulate as 
money. Vagaries of legislation only made matters worse, and 
the attempt to set aside law brought confusion indescribable. 

Worcester County had a population of a little over 50,000. 
There were entered on file in 1784 in the courts, 2000 actions 
for debt, and nearly as many the following year. There was a 
wild assault on properly rights, upon law, and upon the lawyers 
as a profession. It was a sadly troubled page to be read even 
now. It was full of wide portents then. Washington wrote 
from his Potomac farm in terms most impetuous, asking if all 
that Massachusetts fought for in the Revolution, was to be thrown 
away. 

Nor was the aspect of our affairs abroad more encouraging. 
Jefferson writes from Paris in 1786, where he had succeeded 
Franklin as minister :" American reputation in Europe is not 
such as to be flattering to us * * * The whole English 
nation hates us. Hostility is more deeply rooted than through the 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 31 

war. England declines all arrangements with us. They declare 
that were Americans to ask to be taken back on the former foot- 
ing, tlie petition would be absolutely rejected." 

Franklin gives a few more cheerful views in his letter in the 
same year to an Amsterdam banker. He says : " Tlie English 
papers arc sending all the United States to destruction. By 
their accounts you would think we were in the utmost distress, in 
want of everything, in confusion, with no government, and wish- 
ing for that of England. Be assured my friend these are all 
fictions, mere English wishes not American realities. There are 
some few faults in our constitution, which is no wonder consider- 
ing the stormy season in which they were made. And for the 
best I never saw greater or more undubitable marks of public 
prosperity in any country. The produce of our agriculture bears 
a good price, and is all paid in ready hard money All the 
laboring people have high wages. Everybody is well clothed 
and well lodged, the poor provided for or assisted, all estates in 
town and country much increased in value. As to wishing for 
the English government, we should as soon wish for that of 
Morocco." This a picture out of the past worth preserving. 

In 1786, this was a most thoroughly Protestant country. 
There were by their own report in 1784, only 82,500 Roman 
Catholics in the United States, of which only 600 were in New 
England, and 1700 in New York and New Jersey together, but 
there were 20,000 in Maryland, of whom 8000 were slaves. 

In this year 1786, came the earliest scheme of colonization 
in the west. The first plan for the Ohio companies was shaped 
at Rutland in this county, in that year by Gen. Rufus Putnam 
and Joel Barlow. Not until 1786 was it made certain that the 
states would surrender to the general government their claims 
on the territory west of the Allcghanies. Connecticut made her 
concession in that year. This made the North-west territory a 
possibility. Massachusetts men embarked in this Ohio company 
had a prominent share in shaping the great ordinance of 1787, 
that dedicated the North-west to freedom. 

And in this first colony ever planted on territory of the 
United States, were fifty persons from Rutland, carrying out from 
the heart of the commonwealth the lessons of its own past, and 



32 BOrLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

establishing at tlie very threshold of the new West of one hun- 
dred years ago, the faithful pattern of the New England township, 
and New Englan.d town government. 

We found in our own time, in the days of Bleeding Kansas, 
a close and perilous comparison between the civilization of the 
North and South. But the struggle was one that began a hun- 
dred years ago, and the New England founded in the West in 
that elder day., rested on bed rock, and saved the nation to 
freedom. 

The year of 1786 is remarkable as the opening era of the 
great advance in material development. In this year Massa- 
chusetts laid the foundation of her splendid line of manufactur- 
ing industries by the state aid that brought out the first jenny 
and stock card in this country. 

In 1786 John Fitch's first steamboat was tried on the Dela- 
ware. In 1787 Noah Webster had begun by public lectures his 
mission of the naturalization of the English tongue in America. 
In 1786 the great Methodist clmrch of America, organized two 
years before as one flock in Christ by Welsey's orders, had be- 
gun to put forth direct eftbrts for the emancipation of slaves. 

In 1786 the modern spirit of evangelical missions was 
awakened in England by William Carey. The first impulse to the 
great work of missions began in America with the opening of 
the century. These events and circumstances give an interest 
to the year 1786, which saw Boylston a separate town, no dull 
unmeaning sky arched above her. 

The name is derived from one of the eminent Boylston fam- 
ilies of Boston, who seemed to have stood for excellent exam- 
ples in public spirit when the nation well founded was to become 
a nation fitly adorned. The head of this family made a muni- 
ficent gift to Harvard College. The first gift of Ward Nicholas 
Boylston to this new town in 11^1 was £40 to be kept as an 
accumulating fund for such use as the donor should subsequently 
direct. 

The town was faithful to its trust through twenty-eight 
years, when the patron visiting the town in 1827, found his 
gift had grown to !|1000. He died the following year and by his 
will directed that the sum of iSOO should be given to bring the 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 33 

total fund to $1450, for which in 1830, the town built the sub- 
stantial and permanently useful granite structure, its Town Eall 
and school building. But the relation of church and town was 
to work one more territorial change. 

It came when the town found it necessary to build a new 
meeting-house. A warm controversy took place as to its loca- 
tion. In all these scattered rural communities in that period, 
the first inquiry regarding the site of the new meeting-house, 
was " Where is the exact centre of the town." Other towns 
helped with committees and surveyors. Often the point when 
found proved unsuitable, or was changed by some prudential 
reason. It so happened in this case. The central point was 
found half a mile from where we now stand, but with a wisdom 
that has always defended itself, the committee decided to fix 
upon this summit for common and meeting-house : the earliest 
meeting-house having been built on a lower site near the 
burying ground. As in other New England towns we owe to the 
meeting house lot nearly all we have of the modern public 
square. All the more honor to Boylston's fathers that this noble 
common was bought, and not a free grant. There was a sufficient 
power in votes to sustain the action of the locating committee. 
The town having bought the present common, built the second 
meeting-house in 1793, on the site occupied by yonder white 
school house. 

In 1795, Ezra Beaman and his neighbors, after an effectual 
protest drew off and formed with parts of adjoining towns the 
second parish of Boylston, Sterling and Holden, which in 1808 
became West Boylston. 

I can but believe this separation was necessary to save this 
rural town. Its inhabitants have always been widely dispersed 
farmers. Inevitably, the s-trongest nucleus of population was 
forecast for the intervale region in the west and north parts of 
its territory. It could never have become strong on this hill, 
which as happened in many other towns, might have ])ecome 
" the Old Common " with the stronger village centre of Boylston 
established at some lower level. 

I believe it was well to save the town of Boylston to itself, 
and its very triumph over the Beaman party, strong and zealous 



34 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

as thej must have been, shows that the town stood well on its 
foundations. 

Early records say of its inhabitants and first settlers that they 
were always frugal, industrious and temperate. This is what 
good Pastor Sumner had to declare of his Slirewsbury flock in 
his half century sermon in 1812, and he came among them in 
1762. Rev. Peter Whitney of Northborough, whose history of 
Worcester County is a model of its kind, writing of Boylston, 
his next adjoining town, in 1793, and he had been more than a 
quarter of a century an observer, says : •' It may be styled a rich 
town for they are not only clear of debt, but have several hun- 
dred pounds in their treasury. There are sure indications of 
wealth and prosperity among them. Here are some large 
and good farmers as perhaps anywhere in the country, who 
keep great stocks of cattle. The people raise all kinds of 
country produce especially beef, pork and grain, butter and 
cheese, vastly more than they consume, and carry more 
into the market perhaps than any town of its size and 
numbers." 

From old records it is told that, previous to 1808, not less 
than three thousand busliels of rye with about the same quanti- 
ties of corn and oats were produced in the town. During the 
winter season the farmers carried large quantities of rye meal to 
Boston, about forty miles, for which they realized $1.25 per 
bushel. At that time large quantities of cider were made from 
native fruit, grafted trees being unknown. There were thirty 
cider mills in town. And Boylston cider must have been in good 
repute. In 17^6 when Rev. Mr. Crafts was ordained in Princeton 
one Adonijah Howe, as a special town messenger, was sent to 
this town " for cider and plates," and on another errand to West- 
minster " for knives and forks." 

What a clatter of merry-making comes from the ordina- 
tion dinner out of tlie past. Our early fathers and mothers 
were by no means a gloomy generation. One early witness of 
life in a northern Massachusetts town says " we were as poor as 
mice, but as merry as grigs." In fact they may have been too 
jolly, especially at ordination dinners, for in 1759 the grave 
Council of the Royal Governor of this province addressed the 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 35 

clergy a solemn blast of censure against this tendency to jollity 
and feasting on such occasions. 

Other than farming, Boylston has very little of industrial his- 
tory. In the early day there were saw mills, and grist mills, fill- 
ing mills and forges, and she has always had Sawyer's Mills ; but 
the streams ran past her feet, and a thousand cattle were on her 
hills. She found her soil strong and deep, and good husbandry 
was and remains her specialty. She did have her share, indeed, 
in the household industries of the period in the last century when 
'New England domestic manufacture was nearly equal to the 
ordinary wants of the inhabitants for clothing and common 
supplies. 

They had few wants that could not be met by home and vil- 
lage craft. The mechanical industries of this county were in 
embryo but were already forecast by men of wonderful skill and 
ingenuitv, with whom Shrewsbury began to abound when she led 
the way in watches and rifles, aiid ploughs. Boylston has been 
content with her farms. She was prosperous as a farming town 
even when farming industry illuminated by modern agricultural 
science was still in the future. 

1 have no doubt that some of the early prosperous agricul- 
turists of this region looked askance at book-farming and learned 
societies. And there were some very good results of farming in 
the older day. In the middle of the last century some of the 
large farmers of New England kept one hundred cows. In one 
case in Rhode Island, about, 1760, a herd of seventy-three cows 
gave ten thousand pounds of butter in five months, an average 
of nearly one pound from each cow per day. 

It was not until late in the last century, that there began to 
bft much discussion as to the improvement of live stock. In the 
matter of horses, saddle animals were highly valued, but the ox 
was the farm team. Pleasure vehicles were made impossible by 
the state of the early roads. Into one of the northern towns of 
this county came a '* })leasure wagon," so-called in ]81-i, as a 
curiosity. The stage-coach was not born in England until late 
in the last century, and in this region the days of coaching only 
began with the completion of the Boston and Worcester turnpike 
in 1810. Good roads first brought the call among the country 



36 BOFLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

people for good trotters, and the descendant of Justin Morgan, 
foaled at Springfield, Mass., in 1793, began to stir the dust at 
the close of the last century. 

The first county agricultural exhibition ever held in the 
country, was the work of Elkanah Watson, at Pittsfield in 1810, 
to show off three Merino sheep, and the Merino sheep fever a 
little later had a tremendous run. But there were three earlier 
less fortunate Merinos, that deserved a better fate. These were 
two ewes and a ram, brought direct from Spain in 1793, by a 
Boston citizen, who gav^e them to a friend in the country. That 
friend '' simply ate them up," and he himself remembered the 
circumstance a few years later, when he paid $1000 for a 
Merino ram. 

BoylstOH as a farming town has been fortunate in its loca- 
tion. It is said that a central point on a line drawn through the 
state from north to south, rests on a Boylston hill. So that in 
the Heart of the Commonwealth this must be the '' Heart of 
Hearts.'''' This rural town rests like an emerald on the bosom of 
a county throbbing with manufacturing industries, inspired by 
local inventive skill. You may search the world in vain to find 
so closely set a galaxy of such eminent names as Bigelow, 
Whitney and Blanchard, sons of Worcester County, and of this 
neighljorhood. 

The stone rejected by the builders of Gov. Belcher's day, 
one hundred and fifty years ago, has become the head of the cor- 
ner of Massachusetts industries. Worcester County stands to-day 
among the first few counties of the United States in agricultural 
wealth. Where stands its peer, when its mechanical industries 
seek comparison ? Yet they said of this hill country, it " could 
never make a figure — could never attract settlers." The beaver 
in the day of the wilderness knew where to find descending 
waters ; so, all up and down our valleys, the early mill-wheels 
followed in the beaver's track, and the flumes started where he 
built his dams. 

President Dwight's Tour gives a very sunny and delightful 
picture of Worcester County about the year 1790, with busy mill- 
streams on every side among pleasant farms. 

We are not called upon here to rehearse the oft-told tale of 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 37 

the wonders of tlie nineteenth century, the advance in mechani- 
cal industry and applied science, nor even the progress in hus 
bandry. But we may well note that nothing has ever superseded, 
or brought a lighter value to the farmers' occupation, and the 
share that those whose interests are solidly in the soil, have had 
in the building of the nation, and its maintenance. 

The founder of these Massachusetts towns were careful, 
patient and watchful. This thing is evident from Boylston town 
and church records while these records were united. They went 
into public affairs with intense fidelity. The building of the first 
meeting-house called for no less than fourteen precinct meetings; 
the matters of the second meeting-house in 1791 and years fol- 
lowing, occupied no less than twenty town meetings. 

Public service has never needed civil service reform so little, 
the duties of good citizenship have never been anywhere so well 
exemplified, as in the New England town system. 

Boylston has always been a good and kindly nursing mother 
to her sons. This region is the abundant source of the best vital 
forces. Health and vigor are the possession of those who, untainted 
by vice, drink in the full influence of these hills, and the breezes 
that sweep over them. The hill towns of Worcester County, 
have always favored the longevity of their inhabitants. Within 
the year 1885, there were thirty-nine deaths in Worcester County 
of persons who had passed the age of ninety years ; several of 
these had nearly completed the century. 

Here stands the church organization, founded with the town, 
and it remains the only church organization, and it retains the 
faith of the fathers. The great body of the people of the county, 
from the beginning till after the Revolution, belonged to the 
Congregational denomination. In 1783 there were forty-seven 
towns in this county, with a church of the congregational order 
in every town, and there was in 1881, a similar church in all 
these towns except two. 

The history of a church is no more the history of the town, 
but the rich fruits of the early care of the fathers remain, though 
the system has passed away. In Boylston from the first estab- 
lishment of its separate meeting-house the influence of this 
church and the succession of its pastors, eminent in character 



38 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

and attainments, has given a constantly uplifting force to public 
sentiment in this community. Pastor Morse, notwithstanding 
his tenacious adhesion to the cause of the king, is nevertheless to 
be honored with the fact that, for the first twenty-five years of 
town and parish life, he was one of the ablest ministers of this 
region. The united periods of settlement of Mr. Morse and three 
of the succeeding pastors — Fairbanks, Cotton and iSanford — 
cover one hundred and one years of ministerial influence of the 
best and choicest type. All were broad and scholarly men. 

To the late Rev. William H Sanford, whose pastorate fills a 
period of twenty-five years, from 1832, belongs the credit awarded 
to him by both church and town, of bringing to a happy issue 
the aflairs of a most difficult and disturbed period. In his time, 
and guided by his skill and carefulness, the thii-d meeting-house 
was built, the present structure, first occupied in 1835. 

Boylston has from the first been heedful of the care of her 
youth and early realized the measures of early instruction, in- 
wrought into her original plan. It was doubtless as true here in 
the earlier day as was said of Princeton by her historian Russell : 
" Any one need but run his eye over the old records of births in 
the Town Clerk's office to be convinced that half a dozen familes 
constituted a very respectnble school district." Though the num- 
ber of her college-bred sons, since the first settlement oi the town, 
falls short in comparison with those who have sought other call- 
ings, the list is respectable, while Boylston has sent far and 
wide, men of sagacity and good business qualifications. She has 
furnished two Mayors to Worcester, and a numerous array of 
Worcester business men, of success in their vocations, and excel- 
lent citizens : good men, noble women. 

This community, earnest in the outset, and faithful in the 
narrower ways of earlier life, has not shrunk from any of the 
duties and sacrifices this century has imposed. Boylston gave 
eighty-one of her sons to the armies of the Union in the great 
rebellion, and seven of these laid down their lives that the nation 
might live. 

When our men of middle age were school boys, it seemed as 
if the military spirit had gone out of our communities. The 
treasured firearms of revolutionary memory, the sword of the 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 39 

ancestor of brave days of old, clung to the walls of the farmer's 
home, or were gathered in antiquarian collections. But their 
suggestions seemed far remote from any dangers or duties of our 
time. Bird o' Fredum Sawin, indeed, found out in the Mexican 
war why " baggonets wuz peaked," but New England set a light 
value on the school and did not greatly heed the lesson. 

Forty years ago the militia service held a doubtful place 
among sober-minded citizens, as furnishing in muster fields and 
Cornwallis days, only serious perils for the youth and those more 
feeble in the face of temptation. And this dread supplied one of 
the first terrors of the gathering to arms in 1861, the possible 
evils of a disbanded soldiery at the end of the conflict. But 
Boylston, like other communities, re-absorbed into civil life her 
sons, when our armies gave them back, as rain sinks into the 
mellow earth, the subliraest j-roof history has yet furnished 
among the lessons of the Republic, that enlightenment and civil- 
ization, with the Bible and the common school as guiding forces, 
need not impair the sterner qualities that are the bulwarks and 
defenses of the State. 

Boylston has been faithful and sympathizing in the leading 
reforms and benevolent measures of the eras as they arrived. 
Her best public sentiment was early enrolled on the side of Eman- 
cipation. Her cider mills gave way promptly before the advance 
of Total Abstinence. It is worth much for Boylston to have en- 
rolled among its townsmen for over forty years one whose life 
was so fully freighted with usefulness for his age and time as 
that of John B. Gough. 

He came among you a young man, yet old in the experiences 
of the woe of drunkenness, with life prospects apparently blighted 
by the drunkard's cup, with heart and nature scarred by grief and 
shame ; with a sadness that was never quite parted from in the 
brightest portions of his illustrious career. 

From his wide mission tours, in this land or in foreign lands, 
it was to Hillside he came back to recuperate in a town he loved 
to call his own And when he went out for the last time to 
return in life no more, his remains were brought to Hillside to 
receive the world's tribute of grief and affection, that came flash- 
ing across continents and under seas. 



40 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

One hundred years have brought great changes to the world 
and to the race from whom the earliest settlers of these hills was 
derived. At the end of the reign of Charles II, two hundred 
years ago, the English colonists in America numbered 200,000. 
In two hundred years their increase has been two hundred and 
fifty fold. In the century, whose close we celebrate to-day, the 
United States has increased its territory ten fold. 

The influx of a population, alien in blood and purposes from 
the early founders of the nation, has nearly all taken place within 
these hundred years. They share our destinies and will share 
in shaping them. " We march to fate abreast." 

In one hundred years the Anglo Saxon- race, in whom rests 
the world's hope, has grown from six to one hundred millions. 
It now comprises one-fifteenth of mankind ; it rules one-third of 
the earth's surface, and one-quarter of the people. Within the 
century the world has been belted by the emigrant and the 
adventurer. Let Alexander weep, — there are no more wilder- 
nesses to be conquered, no more virgin lands to be explored. 

Seventy years ago a Boylston pastor preached a clear and 
ringing discourse on the topic of Missions, and his plea, in 
1816, for Christian Evangelization of the new West as a national 
necessity, reads like fhe most vivid Home Missionary appeal of 
to-day, notwithstanding the New West of Pastor Cotton's time 
lay far on this side of the Mississippi. " After me the deluge," 
shouted the infamous favorite of a licentious king, and the red 
deluge broke on France nearly one hundred years ago. 

" After us those for whose estate and welfare we shall be held 
accountable," was the motto of the founders of this hill town, and 
well has their pious care been answered. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 41 

After the oration, in introducing the Poet of the Day, the 
President of the Day said : 

Our youth is passed amid the illusions of poetry, and in the 
natural order of events on occasions like this, sober fact usually 
comes first and the poetry afterward. This is following custom, 
and it may be that the custom is based upon the facts of life after 
all, because the illusive poetry of childhood soon evaporates before 
the actual facts of life, and then comes the real inspiration of life 
in its sober realization of the just proportion, which the chastened 
mind converts into real poetry. To-day, following the instincts 
of our feelings, we desire to be filled with the real inspiration of 
this occasion, and therefore we have called in the art of the poet. 

The Poet of the Day is a descendant of one of the honored 
families of Boylston, and 1 now have the pleasure and the honor 
of introducing William N. Davenport, Esq , of Marlborough, as 
Poet of the Day. 



POEM. 



One hundred years of story and song, 

O'er the river of time have floated along, 

Freighted with cargoes of hopes and of fears, 

The smiles of affection and miseries' tears, 

To the ocean of ages, the isles of the past, 

Where all errors with charity's mantle o'ercast. 

Are hidden from sight 'neath the waves foaming crest 

And lie safely locked in oblivion's breast. 

A century's years have passed swiftly away. 

And sunk 'neath the vortex of nature's decay. 

Since our dear mother town, without hindrance or fear. 

Stepped out of its cradle and began its career. 

T'was a morning in March, the bleak air was chill, 

The cold winds of winter blew bitter and shrill, 

When the infant decided, with a will of its own, 

To forsake its fond parent and go it alone. 

Its mother objected, she said 'twas too small, 

That its castles of air would ingloriously fall. 

And that when despoiled of its infantile charms, 

' Twould be glad to return to her sheltering arms. 

But Shrewsbury, like other good mothers we know. 

Was compelled to submit, and let the child go. 

Kind friends gathered round it, it flourished and grew, 

'Neath the guidance of men who kept heaven in view. 

Who sought to establish without blemish or flaw. 

Our dear native Roj'lston, with virtue its law. 

The foundations of Church and of school they laid deep. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 43 

That those who should follow, might gather aud reap 

The harvest of blessings, that constantly fall 

From religion's pure fountains, and learning's proud halls. 

They were men of convictions, of true simple heart, 

With plain, homely logic, untainted by art, 

Who bent with a smile 'neath the chastening rod. 

And put their whole trust in a beneficent God. 

Plain yeomen were they — humble tillers of earth, 

With a patriot's love for the land of their birth. 

Determined to live in a land truly free, 

They detied the invader from over the sea. 

They shouldered the musket, the plowshare laid by, 

With a firm resolution to conquer or die. 

Then back to their homes, the fierce conflict ended, 

The life of the soldier in the farmer the}' blended. 

Ever ardent for liberty, simple and pure, 

The praise of the tyrants they could not endure. 

So when Pastor Morse endeavored to teach, 

And also to practice, as well as to preach, 

That to monarchs and kings allegiance was due, 

That to England's proud sway they should ever prove true, 

He was told in language emphatic, and plain, 

That should the offence be committed again. 

For his labors of love he must seek a new field, 

That upon this one point they ne%'er would yield. 

The pastor persisting, was soon banished hence, 

Where loyalist teachings would not give offence. 

They were men of stern lives, kind-hearted and true, 

They built for their children, they builded for you, 

And then to our keeping, the heritage left, 

Of none of its brauty, or grandeur bereft. 



IT. 



But 'tis a fact, none can dispute, 

A terse homely maxim, that none dare refute, 

That a child that disobeys its mother, 

Will come to grief sometime or other. 

Two and a score of years passed by, 

So swiftly do the moments fly, 



44 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

So short is life, the little span, 

That marks the pilgrimage of man, 

So brief the space between our birth, 

And our resting place in mother earth, 

That many of the little band 

Who guarded with protecting hand. 

The infant town on its natal day, 

Had passed from all earth's scenes away, 

Had gone to seek that just reward, 

Trepared for all who serve the Lord, 

Ere their Western brothers prayed the state, 

In the year of grace eighteen hundred eight. 

To carve from Boylston's teeming breast, 

A strip of land in the prosperous West, 

And cause the child to undergo. 

Some portion of its mother's woe : 

Thenceforth West Boylston graced the plain, 

Of Worcester County's fair domain. 



III. 



One hundred years of time's vast span, 

Outnumbering far, the years of man. 

Have sped since that auspicious morn. 

When our old mother town was born. 

What mighty changes these years have brought. 

What wonders Father Time hath wrought. 

Nations have risen since that day. 

Have flourished, and have passed away. 

Monarchs have sought to stem the tide, 

Of Liberty's advancing stride. 

But everywhere beneath the sun, 

Wherever man his course has run. 

The Goddess rules far stronger now. 

Than when the crown first decked her brow. 

No more the serf shall bend the knee. 

The slave from all his fetters free 

Stands disenthralled, his slavery o'er. 

Nor longer knocks, at freedom's door. 



BOYLSTOX CENTENNIAL. 45 

The visions of our grandsires' dream 

Vanished before the age of steam. 

Around the world magnetic bands, 

Securely bound by faithful hands, 

All things proclaim of joy or woe, 

Borne onward by the electric flow. 

Science and art with each have vied, 

Inspired alike with honest pride, 

To onward press to greater things. 

To touch the chords whence knowledge springs, 

And 'neath their banners white unfurled, 

To bear its blessings through the world. 



TV. 



Oh ! pleasant scenes of early days. 

How changed thy walks in all their ways. 

How changed thy woods that graced the hills, 

And overhung thy sparkling rills. 

The woodman's axe has spared them not, 

Nor sacred held the wood-land grot, 

But ruthlessly in quest of gain. 

The monarchs of the wood hast slain. 

No more we hear the bugle horn, 

Rousing the County folk at morn, 

No more the dashing tally-ho, 

Through summer's heat and winter's snow, 

Speeds gaily down the village street. 

Behind the coursers strong and fleet. 

For now the sturdy iron horse, 

Through teeming valleys takes its course, 

While backward, from each towering hill. 

Its warnings echo loud and shrill. 

No more the Crier, strong and brown, 

With clanging bell goes up and down, 

Proclaiming in stentorian voice. 

That John, and Jane, have made their choice, 

And that next Sabbath they will be 

Bound fast in legal unity. 



46 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



O change ! why dost thou thus destroy 
The varied scenes of childhood's joy ? 
Is it because the laws of fate 
Have long decreed their present state ? 
Or do you hope to better build 
Than those who lirst these acres tilled ? 
If such thy hope, oh, spare, I pray, 
And keep thy vandal hands away, 
Far from that humble woodside cot, 
To me that almost sacred spot, 
Where on a bright November morn, 
My infant eyes beheld life's dawn. 
Still let my heart about it twine, 
Like incense, round the sacred shrine. 



VI. 



Where are the faces that once we met? 
The familiar forms we shall ne'er forget. 
The kindly friends of childhood's years, 
Who shared with us its joys and fears, 
As side by side, in the days of yore, 
We stored our minds with school-book lore. 
And thought to scale fame's lofty height, 
By learning how to read aud write. 
The stones in yonder churchyard gray. 
Beneath the mournful pine trees' sway. 
Record that many, by a loving hand, 
Have been led from earth to the better land. 
The living are scattered far and wide. 
By mountain peak and ocean tide. 
Wherever fiickle fortune calls 
They seek for wealth in Mammon's halls. 
They burrow 'neath the fruitful ground, 
Where Nature's treasures most abound. 
They till the earth, they speed the train, 
They face the dangers of the main. 
In learning's halls they seek for fame. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 4.7 

And strive to win an immortal name. 
From North to South, from East to West, 
Throughout our land by heaven blest, 
Where'er ambition leads the van, 
And fires and sways the heart of man, 
Old Hoylston's sons in peace abide, 
With honor for their shield and guide. 
But still where'er their footsteps turn 
For the old town their hearts still yearn. 



VII. 

Our native town. We hail thee now 

And place the laurel on thy brow, 

And as your joyful birthday bells. 

The peans to thy glory swells, 

We stand uncovered at thy shrine. 

And round thy brows fresh garlands twine. 

Forsaking all the cares of life. 

Its busy scenes, its daily strife, 

We've come from factory, shop and farm, 

From cares that try and scenes that charm, 

From the marts of trade we've gathered here, 

To welcome thy one hundredth year. 

We've gathered from our several ways, 

To add the tribute of our praise, 

The homage of our song to pay 

To thee on thy Centennial Day. 

The Muses join, with loud acclaim. 

To swell the glory of thy name. 

The breezes catch the glad refrain. 

And send it echoing o'er the plain. 

Far o'er thy high majestic hills, 

Adown thy sparkling, rippling rills. 

On the Nashua's advancing wave, 

Through the quiet vales its waters lave. 

Past frowning rock and mossy dell, 

Past flowery mead, and wooded fell. 

All Nature adds its roundelays, 

To swell the measure of thy praise. 



46 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

VIII. 

'Tis said that treasure once was hid 

Beneath thy green sward's coverlid. 

That treasure for which strong men sought, 

By thirst for gold and greed distraught ; 

Who, through the watches of the night, 

With naught to guide but the moon's pale light, 

Into thy bosom plunged the spade, 

Then upward through the glistening blade. 

And when at last they reached the pot, 

And spell-bound stood upon the spot, 

Upon their view an army broke, 

When mid the muskets diu and smoke, 

The kettle slipped from off the bar, 

And sank into the depths afar. 

So may thy blessings, dearly bought, 

If through unholy impulse sought. 

If greed should seek, or avarice burn, 

From honor's course thy path to turn, 

Oh ! cause them quick to disappear, 

And heap the earth-clods on their bier. 



IX. 



Go on, old town, to virtue true, 
With eagles' flight thy course pursue, 
And may thy sons and daughters be 
True to themselves, their God, and thee. 
On to the future take thy way. 
Refulgent as the orb of day. 
Onward old town, we love thee yet. 
Thy pleasant scenes we'll not forget, 
For thee our hearts shall ever yearn. 
To thee our fondest hopes will turn. 
And when at last life's fleeting breath 
Checked by the unseen hand of death. 
Our bark of Life, with sails all furled, 
vShall bear us to the better world, 
Here may we come and lie at rest,^ 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 49 

Within thy kind maternal breast. 
Go on ! and may thy future be, 
Bright as the hopes we have for thee. 
Nor cloud, nor shadow overcast. 
Nor Summer's gale nor Winter's blast, 
Dispel the hopes that round thee twine, 
Of happiness, for thee and thine. 
Our prayers to heaven will still ascend, 
To keep and guide thee to the end. 



AFTER-DINNER EXERCISES. 



The after dinner exercises took place in the speakers' tent, 
and were opened with the " Poet and Peasant " overture by the 
band. The President then introduced Mr. George L. Wright, of 
Boylston, as toast-master, wlio made following remarks. 

Mr. President : — It seems but proper and fitting in opening 
these post-prandial exercises that a few additional words of wel- 
come and congratulation should be expressed to the sons and 
daughters of the old town, and the descendants of Boylston fam- 
ilies, who have honored the occasion with their presence. It has 
been said that he who forgets not the place of his birth, and the 
trees whose fruit he plucked, and under whose shade he gamboled 
in the days of his youth, is not a stranger to the sweetest im- 
pressions of the human heart. It is especially gratifying to the 
present citizens of the town to welcome back so many of her 
former citizens ; natives, who after years of absence, have return- 
ed on this Centennial Day, which marks the close of the first cen- 
tury of the town's corporate existence to renew the associations 
of the past, to recall the memories of childliood, of youth, and of 
early manhood ; the days which of all the seasons of life cast the 
strongest impressions and leave the most delightful memories. 
We welcome you back to the old home, to these hills and valleys, 
to this heritage of the fathers, to this soil wherein repose the dust 
of parents and kindred, and made sacred by the tenderest asso- 
ciations of life. Many of you have gone out from the town and 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 51 

chosen homes in distant places ; nearly every State in the Union 
has her representative in this day's gathering. The noble record 
of Boylston's sons and daughters is a (itting illustration of the 
sturdy character of the town. Many there are who have adorned 
almost every walk and calling in life ; whose names and records 
have alike done honor to themselves, the old town and the com- 
munities in whicli they have been placed. Statesmen could be 
named whose voices have been heard, and whose influence has 
been felt in both the councils of State and Nation. Soldiers, 
whose bravery has been an honor to the citizen-soldiery of tlie 
Republic. Philanthropists and divines whose eloquence and 
pleadings in the causes of religion, temperance and humanity 
have been heard and felt in every quarter of the globe. Tlie spot 
on which we are gathered teems with historic interest. In yon- 
der cemetery rest the early settlers of this town. On the com- 
mons, hard by, stood the ancient church and school-house, while 
scattered around it stand the houses whicli for the greater part 
of the century were the homes of the Boylston pastors — Mor.se, 
Fairbanks, Hooper, Cotton, Russell, Sanford and Bigelow. 
Every inch of ground is replete with christianizing and elevating 
influences and associations which liave made Boylston what it 
has been. We are honored, in this day's services, with the pres- 
'ence of representatives from the parent towns — Lancaster and 
Shrewsbury, as well as the entire Lancaster circle of towns, while 
the only daughter, West Boylston, completes the family circle. 
We greet you all with the kindliest of feelings and most cordial 
of greetings. At the Bi-Centennial Celel)ration of the old town 
of Lancaster in 18.5-), the following toast was offered to the town 
of Boylston : 

-' Boylston took to herself Shrewsbury's leg and ran away 
from her mother, but her industry and many virtues have done 
honor to herself and her parentage." 

James Davenport, Esq., in rei)lyiug for the town, closed his 
remarks with the following sentiment : 

" As the two branches of the Nashaway which flowed sepa- 
rately all the way from Ashburnham on the north, and Uolden 
on the south, at different distances until they arrived at Lancas- 
ter, did not leav'e the place until they had united into one, and 



52 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



flowed placidly together towards the Merrimac in an unbroken 
union ; so may this meeting have the effect to cement the good 
feelings of this great family until the Nashaway shall cease to 
flow." And this sentiment we now offer as Boylston's greeting 
upon its Centennial Day. I have the pleasure of offering as the 
first toast : 

The day ive celebrate, ivhich welcomes back the sons and 
daug-hters of the old toivn. May this re-union cement anew our 
love for the old home. 

RESPONSE BY THE BAND, 

which gave Bucallossi's *'• Hunting Scene." 

The town of Boy Is ton, although her growth has been small, 
her influence has been wide and her record good. May the 
second century ., upon which she lias now entered., prove as pros- 
perous as the first. 

In offering this toast, the toast-master referred to the diffi- 
culty which the early settlers of Boylston encountered in their 
attempts to become a town, and which ended in their becoming 
the North Precinct of Shrewsbury ; and of the subsequent 
attempts, at last successful, in 1786, In calling for the response 
to this toast, he introduced a gentleman who had always been 
deeply identified with the highest interests of both church and 
town, who had served nearly forty years as one of the deacons of 
the church, and nearly as long as clerk of the parish ; thirty-six 
years as Town Clerk ; who had twice served the town in the Gen- 
eral Court of the Commonwealth ; and who had been honored 
with nearly every office in the gift of the town — Deacon Henry 
H. Brigham. 

REMARKS OF HENRY H. BRIGHAM, ESQ. 

That the growth of the town has been small, the reasons are 
obvious, it is not because its inhabitants have not been prolific, 
as formerly there were many large families ; eight to fifteen chil- 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 53 

dren in a family were not uncommon. It was formerly the cus- 
tom that when a child was born a Note of Thanksgiving was put 
up in church on the following J^abbath for its safe dclivei'y. 
There were two families of fifteen children each brought up at 
the same time. It s'as said to be alternately Andrew Bigelow, 
Benjamin Houghton; Andrew Bigelow, Benjamin Houghton. 
We are a coninmnity ef agriculturists. We have no meciianical 
or other industries to retain our young people. As soon as they 
arrive at mature age they are obliged +o seek employment else- 
where ; but we have the satisfaction of knowing tliat healthful 
influences have gone forth that are widespread and far reaching. 
Many of our young men have gone forth who occupy positions of 
influence and respectability in many of our large cities ; especi- 
ally may we make mention of our neighboring city of Worcester. 
Two of its Mayors were from this town. From the time of the 
first organization of the city government, nearly forty years ago, it 
has had its representatives from this town. Many of its enterpris- 
ing business men, Water Commissioner Chief Engineer of the Fire 
Department, and several of its most prominent Civil Engineers were 
from this town. Of the professionals, there lias been a goodly 
number of ministers of the gospel, among whom maybe mentioned 
Jonathan Longley, John Flagg, Jonathan Bigelow, Asahael Big- 
elow, Andrew Bigelow, D. D., William Whipple, Abijah Stowell, 
Willard Brigham. Of the Medical profession. Dr. John An- 
drews was physician of the town forty years. Two young men, 
graduates from Cambridge and New York Medical Colleges, were 
sent out last year, one to Rhode Island, the other to Pennsylva- 
nia. Of the legal profession there have been several ; a speci- 
men of which we have had in the delivery of the poem to-day. 
There have been many noble women, several of whom have be- 
come the wives of clergymen. Among them may be mentioned 
three from the Ikish family, three from the Hoo))er family, two 
from Rev. Ward Cotton's family, one from the Wliitc family, one 
from the Kendall family, two from the Davenport families. There 
has been musical talent for which tlie town has been noted ; es- 
pecially in the line of descent from Deacon Levi Moore, who was 
leader of the singing at the time of deaconing the hymns nearly 
a century ago. It was said that all of his descendants were singers, 



54 BOTLSTON" CENTENNIAL. 

and it has proved to be so, as they liave heeu the leading singer* 
in this town from that time to the present. One of the families 
who went to West Newton have for fifty years been the leading 
singers and musicians there. Two families, one of thirteen chil- 
dren, who removed to Ashland, have been tlie leading singers 
and organists in the several churches there for forty years. If 
we go to Springfield we find there one of the finest musical estab- 
lishments in that city kept by a young man from this town. If 
we go to the State of Ohio we find a noted Professor of Music 
there from this town. And so of many other places that might 
be mentioned. We are a temperance people, and are all prohi- 
bitionists. When called upon to vote whether intoxicating 
liquors shall be sold in town or not, the vote is an unanimous 
No. Fifty years ago there were three stores and a tavern where 
rum was sold, and everybody drank it. No fault was found with 
the seller ; but the person who got intoxicated was blamed be- 
cause he would drink so. Soon after that time the sale in all 
those places was voluntarily given up, and for forty years no rum 
has been sold in town, consequently very little of the effects of 
intoxicating drinks have been seen. If the record of the town, 
during the past century, has been good, may it be far bettor dur- 
ing the century upon which we now enter. 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts^ the Old Bay State^ 
the brightest star in the national constellation, v)hose government 
grants full security to ecery citizen. We greet her representa- 
tive here to-day. 

HON. HENRY C. GREELEY, 

of Clinton, Executive Committee for the Seventh District, re- 
sponded to this toast. 

He returned thanks for the very complimentary allusion to 
the mother state, remarking that no child would go very far 
wrong who thought well of its parents and kept a good hold on 
the maternal apron strings. He brought congratulations from 
the state government, expressing great regard for the smaller 
towns and the work they were doing in sending forth men and 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 55 

women well developed physically and of great intellectual and 
moral strength. His words of counsel were that they " cherish 
the country school, and the old church of the fathers." 

The early settlers of Boylston. We honor their deeds and 
cherish their memory. What they sowed in dariger, hardship and 
privation their descendants reap in ease and prosperity. 

Responses were made by Ezra Sawyer, of Worcester, for the 
Sawyer family, (the first settlers of Boylston) ; Rev. George S. 
Ball, of Upton, for the Ball family, and Wm. Fred Holcombe, M. 
D., of New York City, a grandson of Col. Jotliam Bush, and 
great-great-grandson of John Bush, first of the name in Boylston, 
and who settled, in or about 17:29, the homestead occupied by the 
family until about thirty years ago. 

RESPONSE OF EZRA SAWYER, ESQ. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 1 am glad to be 
here to-day to participate in the ceremonies of this Centennial 
Day. I am glad to look in the faces of the descendants of the 
early settlers of the good old town of Boylston. In responding 
to this toast I have but little to say of the Sawyer family. I 
cherish the memory of my ancestors, and we honor their deeds 
to-day. They certainly sowed in danger, hardship and privation. 
We can trace the Sawyer family back to three brothers who 
came from England and settled in this vicinity. One in Berlin, 
one in Sterling, one in Lancaster, my father's family came from 
the one who settled in Lancaster. They suffered much from the 
depredations and cruelties of the Lidians. One of the family was 
shot while at work in the field with his brother, who was taken 
prisoner with another man, and taken to Canada. It was soon 
learned that they were mechanics and millwrights, by trade. 
They were offered their freedom if they would build them a saw- 
mill. They built the mill and were given their freedom, and 
then they came back to Lancaster. Thomas, son of this Elias 
Sawyer, came to the south part of Lancaster (which was soon set 
off with a part of Shrewsbury and incorporated as the town of 



56 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



Boylstou),and built saw and grist mills which, for a long term of 
years, did a prosperous and flourishing business. These mills 
and their location has always borne the name of Sawyer's Mills, 
of which there is hardly anything left to trace where the mills 
stood. There are two houses left, one built by Tlioraas Sawyer, 
and one built by my father, Joseph S. Sawyer. There is in the 
chimney of the house built by Thomas Sawyer a, stone on which 
is the date of its building. My father was a Clothier, so-called 
in those days, who had a mill for coloring, shearing and dressing 
home-spun and woven woolen cloth. I saw a coat a few years 
ago, the cloth of which he colored and dressed. The coat had 
then been worn more than twenty years, and it still was not in 
bad condition, showing how they sewed in those days. Tiiey 
sowed seed which pertained not only to the physical and outer 
man, but to the intellectual and spiritual. Some of the first 
work they did was to build and establish the church and the 
school. I can just remember when my father and mother joined 
the church over which Rev. Ward Cotton was pastor. My two 
older brothers, Caleb K. and Joseph S., with myself, were bap- 
tized at tlie same time. I never shall forget the feelings of awe 
and reverence that I felt when he laid his hand on my head, and 
ever afterwards I had great respect for him as a man of God and 
I thank God daily that my parents taught me when al)0ut to 
retire at night, to turn my thoughts to God in prayer, and 1 wish 
to testify that it has been a great help to me all my life. As to 
the reaping of what they sowed, there never was a time when the 
people of this town and country were so well housed, fed and 
clothed as they are to-day. There never was a time when such 
good care was taken of the sick, the insane, the orphan and the 
unfortunate as at the present time. There never was a time 
when there were such opportunities for education, culture and 
development in all that is good and true as now. Look at agri- 
culture, mechanics, and all the sciences, and see what i)rogress 
is being made. Look at the accumulation of wealth. It is 
said that we are, as a nation, three millions richer at sunset 
than we are at sunrise every day. I will close by saying that 
with all this progress and these opportunities, there comes a 
fearful responsibility. May we be able to meet it. 



boylston centennial. 57 

Remarks op Key. George S. Ball. 

Mr. President: — I respond to that sentiment with some 
reluctance, because I am conscious of inability amid the altered 
circumstances of to-day, to do anything like justice to the charac- 
ters of the early settlers of our New England towns. To do this 
we need the genius of history with a power to become a part of 
that past, so as to set forth in its true light the dangers, hard- 
ships and privations of their lot. £t is not alone to recall the 
one century since the incorporation of your town which is 
needed, but almost two. What do one hundred and seventy-five 
years signify of change here ? So wonderful that, if a descrip- 
tion could be true to their courage, fortitude, patience and 
energy, — to their hopes and fears, their loves and losses, — you 
would accuse one of romance or having just come from the peru- 
sal of the Arabian Nights of Entertainment from which he had 
borrowed coloring. The reality is full of romance. The young 
man and his bride gather up a few articles of necessity and strike 
out for many weary miles into a howling wilderness to make a 
home. Their faith in God and each other makes them strong 
for the long weary work. The cloud and sunshine fleck their 
lives as it will the delicately robed and gloved couple that start 
in life's work amid the advantages and prosperity of this later 
day of civilization and progress. We have no records, no key 
to unlock their inner lives save as the majority of these settlers 
expressed themselves in some public act or vote tliat told of their 
faith, hope and purpose for themselves or their posterity. News- 
paper reporters and reviewers were not then watching as with 
eagle eye from every hill-top for some fact or fiction to hurry it 
into print informing you, at the next issue, of matters about 
yourself and neighbors that were surely news. These settlers 
were not grumblers and faultfinders. They attended to their own 
business and found enough of it, and went on with their tasks, 
asking only what is present duty. Like all others who do God's 
will, they planted larger than they knew. In founding a town, 
they planted and nourished that germ of Democracy which has 
grown through great states into one of the great nationalities of 
the world. To-day we see no sign of their poverty, and yet they 



68 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

must have been poor. They, that are dressed in soft raiment, 
live in kings' houses. They have no cause to face tlie privations 
of a new country, to cut down the forests, clear the land and 
break the virgin soil that they may sow and reap their bread in 
the " sweat of the brow," and still live on the coarsest fare, with 
a log hut for shelter, and toil and labor and wait. Thus our 
fathers began. They were the great Commoners^ the bone and 
sinew of the people, the practical brains from which has come so 
much worthy our admiration and gratitude. We are to remem- 
ber that the town was incorporated near the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war. They gave freely of their means and men to prose- 
cute it, and yet, when the currency was so debased that a silver 
dollar would buy more goods than forty of their currency, and 
a •' Spanish milled dollar was worth seventy-five in the same cur- 
rency," they shrank not from their duty as citizens and peti- 
tioned and received their charter for a town. Pew of the rising 
generation, amid the plenty of our homes and the money passing 
through the hands of all classes, can have any idea of the sim- 
plicity and poverty of those days. It was an age of " home- 
spun." The furnishing of their houses and adornment of rooms 
went not beyond necessities. Instead of the piano there was the 
music of the spinning wheels ; instead of the melodeon the click of 
the shuttle and the dull thud of the lay of the hand-loom as it 
beat up to its place the stout weft These home-spun, home- 
wove fabrics furnished the ordinary clothing of the family — warm 
in winter, cool in summer. At night their houses were lighted 
with tallow-dipped candles. These houses, also very plain, were 
innocent of paint without and within. The furniture and adorn- 
ments limited generally to necessities merely. The uncarpeted 
floor scrupulously clean, but well sanded, was the pride of the 
house-wife of that day. Pood was plentiful and luscious if plain. 
Appetites were undoubtedly good, and the festivities of quiltings, 
huskings and thanksgivings gave ample seasons for their indul- 
gence. At such times, if the tables groaned, the boys and girls, 
young men and maidens, laughed ; and grave seniors smiled benig- 
nantly as they recalled the past. Books were few but good, and 
the schools and churches well attended. Out of all this came the 
noblest product of New England — noble men and women, our 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 59 

sires and mothers. As the crude iron i.s brittle, and \va.uta libre 
and strength, we put it under tremendous pressure ; so souls un- 
der these outward jiressures grew, and as storm and cloud and 
sorrow environed them, they reached up for God's light and found 
comfort and peace in commerce with the skies. We rejoice in 
their deeds, in their English l)lood. I do for one. Say what you 
will of England to-day, yet the stock is good. We are proud of 
it. It is stalwart, liberty-loving. It bore transplanting to these 
shores well, and may I not appeal to the history of New Eng- 
land, and of our towns, to vindicate my conviction ; it has not 
deteriorated. And let the deeds of your townsmen, in the late 
war, show you that the patriotic fire of the sires still burns with 
undiminished l)rightiiess in the bosoms of the sons. 

The Church and Ministry of BoylsLon, may its sacred in- 
fluence and the faithful ministration of those who l/ibor at its 
altar euer ^uide this people in ways of truth and holiness. 

Responses by Rev. Israel Ainsworth, the present pastor, 
and by Rev. Henry S. Kimball, of Dayville, Conn., a former act- 
ing pastor. 

Response of Rev. Israel Ainsworth. 

The seven men who have preceded me in the pastorate of 
the Boylston church, have not been able to boast of royal blood, 
as some of the natives of this town, of whom we have just heard, 
could. But they were royal men nevertheless. Men of God, men 
who had the educational, moral and religious good of the people 
at heart. This town owes very much to the church, for it was 
the religious character of the first settlers which led them to seek 
for incorporation, first as a precinct, than as a town. During the 
one hundred and forty-three years of its existence, the church 
here, under the leadership of its able and faithful ministers, has 
sought to mould and fashion the lives of the sons and daughters 
of this place in righteousness, and fit and qualify them, hy inspir- 
ing within them a desire after the highest and l)est things for 
usefulness here and Idessedness hereafter. We have no. reason 
to be ashamed of my predecessors in the ministry of this 



60 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

church. They were not a whit behind their contemporaries 
who filled the pulpits in the churches of this vicinity. What- 
ever we may think, at this date, of the political views of the 
first pastor, we must admit that he was a man of uncommon 
intellectual ability and an earnest Christian minister. Those 
who succeeded him were not all of one mind, and indeed, 
had they been we should not have had the respect for them 
which we now have Educated men are thinking men, and edu- 
cated Christian ministers do not think less than other men of 
culture and refinement. The theological differences which have 
occurred in the churches of New England have not failed to dis- 
turb the Boylston church, and though this church has remained 
true to the Evangelical faith of the fathers, it has received some 
of the additional light from God's Holy Word for which the 
fathers prayed. The church and ministry here have not neg- 
lected to take a deep interest in the educational welfare of the 
young. The names of Cotton and Sanford will long be remem- 
bered in this connection, for they sought by precept and exam- 
ple to emphasize the feeling of those who laid the foundations of 
this Republic, that the church and the common school were 
necessary to the continuauce of the life of the democratic-repub- 
lican institutions of this country. A Sunday-school was established 
by the church here in 1818, and the principle of total abstinence 
from the use of ardent spirits was made binding upon its mem- 
bers as early as 1833. This church has been catholic in its 
spirit and treatment of Christians of other denominations. Sev- 
eral attempts have been made to establish other churches in this 
town, but they have failed, not because of opposition from the 
First Church, Init because all real worshippers of God in Christ 
have been made to feel at home in the old church ; made to feel 
that Christianity and not sectarianism was the only essential to 
true church fellowship. Other towns in this county with a popu- 
lation no larger than that of Boylston, have several church 
organizations ; but I believe that this church will stand alone in 
the future as in the past, if it continues to manifest that spirit of 
Christian courtesy and love which has characterized it during a 
considerable period in its past history. It has much to rejoice 
over at present. Very few churches in agricultural towns have 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 61 

more young people among them than we. I see no reason to 
despond over the future history of this church, if she only keeps 
herself " unspotted from the world;" if she only develops in 
righteousness and true holiness, and labors for the good of those 
among whom God has placed her, this generation and genera- 
tions to come shall call her blessed. 

Rev. Henry S. Kimball, 
of Dayville, Conn., said : 

I am always glad to meet the people of Boylston and 
particularly so to greet them on this anniversary occasion. 

In this town I had my happiest pastorate. It will be 
remembered as a bright section of my life. I expect no brighter 
one during my ministry. But while others refer to the past I 
wish to speak of the future. I desire to make a plea for these 
citizens. Those who have remained in the town have sustained 
its honor so highly that we are proud to return to-day. They 
have carried forward the educational and religious work remarka- 
bly well. Now I wish to ask you who have gone forth from this 
town to assist these worthy residents who remain. They need 
a chapel ; the basement of the church is not a suitable place in 
which to hold religious services. Health and life are endangered 
by attendance there. There is also imperative need of a library 
building ; they have an excellent collection of books but no 
room in which to keep them. 

I appeal to the sons and daughters of Boylston to give these 
needed buildings to tlieir native town, ('ertainly there can be 
no better investment, no more enduring monument to your 
memory. While we gather here to-day I seem to see another 
company. Looking down upon us I behold Hanford, Bigelow, 
Flagg, Partridge, Bush, Moore, Andrews, and among them 
stands that beloved man who recently went home, John B. 
Grough. Let us remember his last words, make our records 
clean, and meet those who have gone before in that better world. 

The toast-master referred to the fact that two of Boylston's 
pastors, whose united term of service covered a period of more 
than fifty years, were both prominently connected with the edu- 



62 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

catioual and social interests of the town as well as the church, 
and botli represented it in the General Court, and offered the 
following toast : 

To the memory of Rev. Ward Cotton, A M., minister of 
the toum from 1797 to 1825, an honored representative of one of 
the most illustrious lines of the tninistry in New England. His 
efforts for the spirtual and temporal interests of the toivn will 
ever be remembered with respect and veneration. 

Rev. Daniel S. Whitney, 

of Southborough, a former resident of the town, and a son-in law 
fo Rev. Mr. Cotton, replied as follows . 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : — To do anything 
like justice to my theme requires more time than the occasion 
can furnish. It is meet, however, that something should be said, 
however inadequate. Mr. Cotton's ministry not only extended 
over more than one-quarter of the life of the town, but it came in 
that part of its life when it was needful for both ministers and 
people to struggle against great hardships. Worthless paper 
currency, the embargo and Madison's war were to those who 
encountered them no small hardship. With molasses at 11.80 
per gallon, and other things in proportion, it must have been a 
time to try men's stomachs if not their souls. The ministers' 
houses, in those days, were the taverns for all traveling minis- 
ters, and not infrequently others would claim tlieir hospitality 
who had no right above tram})S to l)c taken care of without charge. 
Mr. Cotton's hospitality was of the broadest type. Whether with 
single or double team, whoever came, were supplied with tlie 
best that the house and barn afforded. No unfortunate was ever 
sent away hungry. He eked out his small income by fitting boys 
for college and teaching others in his own house, and thus greatly 
improved tlie standard of education in the town. Books were 
scarce, and he induced some friends to join him in starting a 
library which became very serviceable to old and young. Mr. 
Cotton brought to the town not only the culture of the best insti- 
tution of learning, but also the manners and graces of his Ply- 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAX. 



63 



mouth home. The self-denial to which his young bride submitted 
without a murmur, may be seen from the fact that she was so 
struck, on her first appearance at church, with the contrast be- 
tween the costumes of the women of the town and her own rich 
dress that she never again wore it. At her Plymouth home it 
was proper, but not among the people to whom she had come 
to be a helpmeet for the young minister. Tiie gay silks lay 
quietly in draw ers till her girls were old enough to wear silk, 
then they took a darker color and were made useful. Mr. Cot- 
ton's ministry, from its beginning to its ending, was one of emi- 
nent self-denial and self-forgetfulness. The highest interests of 
the people who had called him to be their spiritual guide were 
ever in his thought. He refused to listen for a moment to a com- 
mittee from a much larger town who came to see if he would 
answer favorably a call to be their minister. When urged by a 
sister to seek the new field he made this characteristic reply : 
" It is a poor soldier that deserts in time of battle," and so he 
continued on to the end. He was always on excellent terms 
with the young people, and used his influence to direct their 
amusements and lead them into reasonable channels. The heats 
and jars among men he ever strove to mitigate and assuage. He 
seemed to realize the greatness of the blessing pronounced upon 
the peacemakers. The majority of the people were strongly at- 
tached to him. This was clearly seen after he ceased to be their 
minister by their making him, from year to year, their represent- 
ative in the Legislature till failing health dismissed him entirely 
from public service. Mr. Cotton and his wife had born unto 
them six children — four girls and two boys. The second child, 
a beautiful, healthy little girl, Mary, went to her heavenly home 
when but seventeen days old through the carelessness of a nurse. 
The other five lived to mature years, mutually blessing and being 
blest. The family circle was first broken by the marriage of 
Lydia Jackson, the eldest of the girls, to Mr. Josiah Pope, of 
Sterling. Three years later she passed to her spiritual home 
leaving an infant daughter to manifest in after years something 
of the beauty of person and character for which her mother was 
so remarkable. 

Ward Mather, the younger of the boys, learned the machin- 



64 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

ist business, married Miss Elizabeth Miller Lamson, of Boylston, 
settled iu Leominster and was long known as Deacon Cotton, 
Secretary ui" the Northern Worcester Temperance Society. He 
died about ten years since, leaving three sons and a daughter, 
Sally May married Rev. Charles Robinson, of Medfield, where she 
was called hence live years later, leaving an infant son. A 
dearly loved and greatly mourned little daughter preceded her to 
the letter country. Hannah Sophia Phillips married Daniel S. 
Whitney, has resided in Southborough for more than thirty 
years, is the only one of the family now living on earth ; and is 
here with two of her grandsons, John Cotton Billings and Carlyle 
Whitney Billings to enjoy this celebration. John Thomas, the 
oldest of the children, was never married, but lived with his 
parents at the old homestead while they lived. He was town 
clerk for many years and represented the town in the General 
Court. He was greatly attached to his mother, and when her 
failing health required all his time and strength, he cheerfully 
relinquished all public employments and devoted himself entirely 
to her comfort till she passed on to other mansions. After his 
mother's departure he sold the old homestead, bought a small 
place in Southborough, near his sister's residence, and lived 
there in good fellowship with his neighbors till his failing health 
induced him to seek a home with her, where he gradually failed 
to the end, being in the eighty-fourth year of his age when called 
away. He left us about two years since, and rests by the side of 
his parents and sisters in the old cemetery here in Boylston. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : These services have 
been so much confined to a looking back and dwelling upon the 
heroic deeds of the fathers, that I cannot forbear to cast one 
glance to the future. There are great acts of justice, heroic 
deeds yet to be done before the world comes to the top of its 
possibilities. Chattel slavery is no more, but the slaves of strong 
drink still menace our beloved country. Is this great Republic 
to die, as Starr King declared that Greece died, of delirium tre- 
meus ? What force can we call to our aid against this terrible 
foe of the human race ? Ihe good ivomen of the land I We 
must confer municipal suffrage upon them, and then we can 
cope with this powerful foe. The sooner we do this act of sim- 
ple Justice the better. 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 65 

To the memory of Rev. WiUiam H. Sanford^ minister of 
the church in Boy/ston, from 1832 to 1857 an honored exemplar 
of the Christian relvjion; a faithful worker for the moral and 
educational interests of the town. May his memory ever be 
cherished by this people. 

This was responded to by 

Mr. George L. Sanford, 
of Worcester, a son of the late Wqx. William H. Sanford. 

I thank you for the call to respond to a sentiment which is 
intended as a tribute of respect to my late honored father. In 
a double sense I feel it to be an honor to have been selected by 
you to voice what you have given us in time past abundant reason 
to know is your genuine respect and affection for the subject of 
this sentiment. And I feel it an honor to speak for my father 
on this occasion, such I know to have been his earnest life, his 
long cherished affection for Boylston and her people. He came 
among you in his early manhood fresh from his studies, to era- 
bark here in a career to which he had turned aside from more 
ambitious worldly life plans at the call of the Master. He was 
one of the fruits of the great revivals about the period of 1831-2, 

and the light that shone in upon him then those of you who 
were in the Christian fold to which he ministered know to have 
been the guiding star of his life. Others who are older in years 
among this audience to-day, remember him as the Boylston pastor 
in this his only pastorate which, when it had been extended to a 
period longer far than the average of ministerial engagements in 
these days, he laid down and took no other. The only pastoral 
memories he ever had held fast to Boylston, to her homes, to the 
elders like him ripening for the other world; to the men and wo- 
men, now heads of families, who had received baptism in infancy 
at his hands. It will always be a treasured memory with us of 

his household, the occasion of the visit paid to him by the people 
in honor of his seventy-fifth birthday in 1875. I have never 

known a more touching proof of genuine affection between pastor 
and people than this which then reached over a lapse of nearly 



OQ BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

twenty years, to recognize and honor this tie. He never became 
a stranger here. He was frcquentlj' with you. The strong ties 
he formed here were never replaced while living in our adjacent 
city. He retained to the last his interest in your homes and 
your life here. I am glad to remember, on this occasion, my own 
share of benefit and happiness in my early home among you 
Since my later life has been cast with no rural surroundings, it 
will always be a satisfaction to me to recall the house embowered 
in orchards and hung round with vines that was the parse nage, 
my Boylston home. My father, while he clung to his bookish 
and classic ties, was, as you will remember, skillful in all the 
arts of horticulture, and like many of the clergymeu in the older 
day, not so itinerant then as now, led and inspired even farmer 
neighl)ors to a better husbandry especially in the house field that 
plants the fruit tree and waters the vine, and takes pride in the 
kitchen garden. In all this my father, you will remember, was 
zealous and what he made of his estate, with its other home fea- 
tures, was vividly described by Rev. Theodore Cuyler in his 
widely copied sketch, in the Neiv York Observer,, about the year 
1856, " The Model Parsonage^ I thank you in behalf of our 
family for your kind remembrance of my father. I must not 
longer trespass on your time and the place of those who are to 
follow me. 

To the memory of Aaron W/iite, Esq.^ for forty-nine years 
a resident of Boylston. for twenty four years its town clerk^ and 
for many years a mag-is tr ate ; ever zealous for the highest wel- 
fare of the community ; the father of a family whose record has 
been an honor to the toion. 

Response by Samuel C. White, Esq., of New Jersey. 

Aaron White, whose life and services in this town are here 
commemorated, was the eldest son of Aaron and Elizabeth 
White, and was born in Roxbury, now called Boston Highlands, 
June 9, 1771. His death occurred in this town on the 7th of 
April, 1846, two months and two days under seventy-five years 
of age. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 67 

He was in the fifth line of descendants from John White, 
who came from England between 1630 and 1640, first settled at 
Watertown, and a few years later removed to Muddy River, or 
Boston Farms, as Brookline was formerly called. In this town 
of Brooicline, the father, Aaron White senior, was born, and all 
his ancestry of the name of White back to the first comer, Jolm 
White, lived and died. 

The education of Aaron White, Jr., was such as the com- 
mon schools of the town of Roxbury afforded one hundred years 
ago, but being near the Boston line he had access to the old 
Boston Public Library, an institution which still exists with its 
means of disseminating knowledge vastly enlarged. 

With the aid of books from this library he had an oppor- 
tunity for indulging his fondness for reading, and his mind was 
well stored with English history and English literature. When 
under twenty-one he was for several years employed in daily 
attendance on Boston market to dispose of the produce of his 
father's place, mostly devoted to the cultivation of fruit and 
vegetables. At twenty-one, 1792, he oi-ened a store in the 
easterly part of the town of Holden. 

About five years afterwards, or in 1797, he closed up his 
business in Holden and removed to Boylston, purchasing the old 
store, tavern stand and farm then owned by Col. Jotham Bush, 
on the Worcester road, opposite the old cemetery. Here the 
store and farm occupied his attention until the autumn of 18'21, 
when he removed to the place formerly owned by Capt. Jason 
Abbot. 

Having made an addition to the dwelling house and repaired 
the main building and erected a new store a short distance to the 
eastward, he continued the business of a country merchant until 
a few years before his decease in 1846. Much of his time was 
occupied in the management of town offices, as town clerk, 
selectman, and for several years a member of the legislature of 
the State. Before leaving Holden he became engaged to Mary, 
eldest daughter of Rev. Joseph Avery, minister of that town, and 
they were married on the first day of January, 1798, and com- 
menced housekeeping at the place purchased of Col. Bush. 
They lived to see their family of seven sons and three daughters 



68 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

grow up and become settled in life, the youngest daughter 
remaining at home the comfort and stay of her parents in their 
declining years. The mother was remarkable for the most per- 
severing and indefatigable devotion to what she conceived to be 
her duty to her family, to the church, and to society in general. 
The faith and hope and Christian confidence never faltered in all 
her pathway throiigli life. She died May 26, 1860, in the eighty- 
second year of her age. 

To the memory of Dr. John Andrews, forty years the phy- 
sician of the town ; a useful and injiaential citizen. We honor 
and respect his memory. 

John D. Andrews, Esq., 
of Boston, a son of Dr. Andrews, responded as follows : 

The Andreivs Family : — One hundred years ago, who were 
they, and from whom did they descend ? 

One thousand and more years ago Hugh De Sutton, then 
later Pes Sutton became the Baron Dudley ; then later the Baron 
Dudley became the Gov. Dudley of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay. 

The daughter of Gov. Dudley, Ann, the poetess, married 
Gov. Simon Bradstreet, (also a governor of Massacliusetts.) 

The grand-daughter of Simon and Ann, one Lucy, daughter 
of Simon Bradstreet of Topsfield, Mass., was married to Bob- 
ert Andrews, of Boylston, Mass., about 1746, and their children 
were the Andrews family of Boylston, one hundred years ago : — 
their names Avcrc Robert, Samuel, Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Lucy, 
Asa and Jotham, each of whom had families. 

The children of John were Mary Parker, Willard, Lucy 
Bradstreet, John, Robert and Tliomas Denny. 

The .children of Asa were Elizabeth Ann, John Dudley, 
Edward, Theodore and Charlotte. 

The children of Daniel were Mary, Sarah, Asaph, Edmund, 
Eunice and Daniel. 

The children of Samuel were Lucy Ann, Elizabeth, Judith, 
Samuel and Mary Morse. 

The children of Robert were Jotham, Robert, Dolly, xisa, 
Dudley, Dennis and John. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 69 

John the youngest son of Robert lives in the remembrance 
of most of you, going in and out of your houses as the only 
doctor in tliis town for nearly half of those hundred years, 
doing faithfully and well the laborious duties of his pro- 
fession, and cheerfully l)caring his share of the burdens of town 
and parish ; a good representative of a family who have contri- 
buted much, first and last to the general good and welfare of the 
town they loved, and where so many of them have lived and died, 
and whose record, if not brilliant, is yet witluut a stain, and 
whose memory as honest, sober and law-abiding citizens, the 
inhabitants of the good old town may well cherish, and the rising 
generation emulate. 

Our ag'ed felloiv cilizens wlio have witnessed the history 
and growUi of the toivn throvg-ltout near/// the whole of the first 
centnry of its existence; venerable men and ivomen, may your 
last days be your best, and mn.y you long be spared to enjoy the 
respect and esteem of your townsmen. 

Response by the Band. 

The towns of Lancaster and Shrewsbury ; the honored pa- 
rents and guardians of Boylston in her infancy; to their 
early fostering- care the daughter owes much of her growth and 
prosperity. 

Responses : Rev. A. P. Marvin, for Lancaster ; George 
H. Harlow Esq., for Shrewsbury. 

Response op Rev. A. P, Marvin. 

Mr. President: — The sentiment just read in reference to 
Lancaster, the mother of towns, is fitting and well expressed. 
The oldest town in the county, and one of the oldest in the State, 
having been begun about thirteen years after the settlement of 
Boston, and having been endowed with an ample territory, it 
was natural that her vast acreage should be cut up into other 
towns as the years passed over licr. And so it. has come to pass 
that eight towns, besides her own goodly proportions, are the 
results. Five of these towns — Harvard, Leominster, Bolton, Ster- 



70 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

ling and Berlin, arc children, and the two Boylstons and Clinton 
are grand-children of this prolific mother. She responds kindly 
to yonr reverent greeting, and I am happy to be called upon to 
say a few words in her behalf. The good old town is rather proud 
of her family, and loves to be greeted as the mother of them all. 

But, truth to say, she has no great claim to your filial grati- 
tude and honor. Only a fraction of your territory was ever in 
her domain. Very few settlers inhabited this section for nearly 
a century after Prescott, Ball and Waters began to lift axes 
against the big trees in the Nashua valley. Still, there was Lan- 
caster blood here in your early settlement, and it continues here 
to this day. Sawyer, Bigclow, and other names, tell of Lancas- 
ter birth and breeding. But, on the whole, the old town must 
be modest in her claims upon Boylston for filial respect. You 
are only a partial reproduction of herself. You have drawn your 
population from other towns in larger proportion. Your inher- 
itance from her is somewhat like that of a noted divine who was 
visited by the gout. The question was whence it came. " Did 
your father imbibe too much ? " " No." " Was your grand- 
father a wine-bibber ? " No." " Well, then, how came you by 
the infliction ? " Oh, I inherited it from my wife's father," was 
the reply. Therefore, if you are blessed by many good things, 
by way of heredity, give Lancaster her share of credit ; if any- 
thing not good has come to you, lay the blame on some other 
ancestry. 

I am glad to say to you that the good old town is holding 
on her way, unwrinkled, and with undecaying vigor. While 
many other joining towns are decreasing in population, the last 
census showed an increase in numbers notwithstanding a de- 
crease of inmates in the State Industrial School. 'Our farms are 
improving, our roads are unsurpassed, our schools are among 
the best in the county, our beautiful scenery as the Creator made 
it, only improved by cultivation. Like the original Eden, it is 
the duty of the inhabitants to till and dress it. More than all, 
the ancient town is "booming" now, to use a coinage of the 
times. Houses are full, several buildings are now going up, and 
another is to be erected this season, which will not be inferior to 
the best in the county of Worcester when finished. I know you 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 71 

will ])G glad of the prosperity of the mature but fitill young 
and vigorous mother town, as she will always Ijc in sympathy with 
all your improvements. 

Leaving this line of remark, called out ijy tlie toast, I wish 
to express my pleasure in being able to attend this anniversary 
meeting. 1 can recall no occasion of the kind which so com- 
pletely realizes my ideal of a Centennial CclolH-ation of a Now 
England town. 1 was delighted when, on (irst comiiiji this 
morning, I looked off upon the scenery that g.ects and charms 
the eye in various directions, — Ijut chiefly as you look westward 
over the Nashua valley, the intervening woods and waters, — and 
finally rested on the magnificent dome of the county — Wachu.sett. 
Not less pleasing, in another way, was the immediate scene 
around us. The throngs of people, the procession of happy chil- 
dren, the campus with all its moving sights as well as its encom- 
passing buildings; the decorations, the flags, and mottoes, and 
trees laden with fruit, the tents and the town hall crowded with its 
antique heir-looms ; the old powder-house, brimful, if not of pow- 
der, yet of associations of the times whicli tried men's souls ; all 
these sights cncliained my attention, and as the hours have sped, 
my interest has increased. To mo the side-shows with their 
penny-getting greed, and the auctions with their extravagant 
rhetoric aljout pills and powders, and the cure-alls, have a char- 
acteristic flavor. Then I took special pleasure in seeing the 
horses, and the big guns, and the evolutions. There, I said to my- 
self, in the last resort, is the concentrated might that secures 
rights under law, puts down rebellion and drives foreign ene- 
mies from our shores. And here, in this vast tent, with its 
throng of sons and daughters of the town, with its exercises of 
music, reading of the Word of God, poetry and oration, we have 
the culmination of the noblest civilization that has yet blessed the 
earth. In the crowd without I have neither seen nor heard any. 
thing to mar the happiness of the occasion ; anrl this blending of 
country and city in the gathering, wherein you cannot discern 
the line of meeting ; this country flavor with city culture, so 
gently melting into each other that nothing occurs to check the 
full tide of friendship and sympathy, is delightful to see. Tiie 
whole will have an abiding place in my memory as it will in yours. 



72 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

But, Mr. President, the only thought I had to express when 
I came here was, if called upon to say anything, this, that the 
old-time people who came and settled here in the unbroken 
woods that filled this region, were a happy set. It is the fashion 
to pity them as an unhappy generation, with their privations and 
want ot amusements and rusticity. But they need not our com- 
miseration, and ask it not. 

True, they had hard times cutting down the forests, break- 
ing the sod, living in log houses, making roads; in this there was 
hard work. Nor was Ihe task of their wives less trying than that 
of their husbands. Then there were wild beasts, such as foxes, 
woodchucks, and other nuisances of the sort, besides beasts of 
prey, as wild-cats wolves and bears. The all-devouring birds 
made havoc of their crops. Clouds of them shadowed the sun 
and made the woods ring with their songs or their croakings ; 
and when they fell upon field or garden, the hopes of men were 
devoured. Nor is this all. Did you ever think what an omni- 
present curse were the snakes in those days ? Serpents of all 
kinds, and in all places, infested their land and crawled into 
their houses. Many of the towns around us had their " rattle- 
snake hill." The journals of the officers in the old wars, from 
1676 to 1763 have frequent mention of snakes which were killed 
in their scoutings. Indeed, they endured hard times in their 
inclement winters ; but, after all, they were the happiest people 
in the world. This is not the language of extravagance. Your 
orator of the day has spoken well to this point. It was an aged 
minister's wife, in Winchendon, who said of the early settlers of 
that town, " They were as poor as poverty but merry as grigs." 
But they had the true foundation of happiness. You are aware, 
sir, that people who are always contriving how to be happy, only 
betray their unhappiness. Good morals, industry, frugality, 
honesty, neighborly kindness, fidelity to marriage vows, public 
spirit, and the fear of God, were the sources of their happiness. 
They had pleasant gatherings and innocent hilarity, and an out- 
flow of love to family and kin, and kind, which enriched their 
minds. They had schools and books, excellent though few ; and 
above all the meeting-house with pious and scholarly pastors, 
which brought them knowledge, quickening thought, and incite- 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 73 

ments to honorable iiving, and laugiii; them that tliey were im- 
mortal souls. In a word, they had a religion that enlightened 
their minds, sweetened their atTections, bound them together in 
kindly neighborhood, and showed them the way to heaven. As 
you inherit the fruits of their labors, so cherish their virtues as 
you honor their memory. 



The town of West Boylston; the only daughter; her growth^ 
industry and prosperity have done honor to her parenlag-e. 

Response by Rev. Joseph W. Cross, of West Boylston. 

Mr. President: — It must be very gratifying to this only 
daughter to receive so flattering a comj)liraent from the lips of 
this venerable mother, on her one hundreth birth-day. It indi- 
cates not only entire reconciliation, but just appreciation and 
respect, as well as maternal affection. 

It has been my pleasure to sustain an intimate relation to 
this only daughter for nearly fifty years, and I can truly say this 
compliment is as fairly merited as it has been kindly bestowed. 
During my long and intimate acquaintance with both mother 
and daughter, I believe their relation to each other has ever 
been mostcordial, and their intercourse most friendly. 

If I am correctly informed, this was not always the case. In 
their earlier history there was some sharp contention, and much 
temporary alienation. When this daughter was about twenty- 
two years of age, she became somewhat self-willed and ungovern- 
able ; the mother regarded her, if I may use a scriptural phrase, 
as " heady, high-minded." The fact was, she began to feel her 
own importance ; began to be impatient of maternal restraint, 
and, if the truth must be told, she coquetted with a major. In 
spite of maternal council and restraint, she became infatuated 
and fairly bewitched with him ; or he with her. I believe it was 
a mutual affair ; until the major by pluck and perseverence, 
finally snapped the apron string and led her away. 

But just here, I wish to say what I now believe to be admit- 
ted on all sides, that this major was a very worthy, honorable man; 



74 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

held in the highest estimation tliroughout all the eommunity ; 
distinguished both in civil and military life ; a very patriotic and 
noble-hearted citizen ; the successful suitor of the daughter, and 
the honored father of the towji ; so highly esteemed by his fellow 
citizens, that it was seriously proposed at one time to change the 
name of the town to Beaman, a proposition which it is to be re- 
gretted, was not carried into immediate effect. 

But, Mr. President. 1 do not wish to occupy too much time 
on this occasion, nor to anticipate what may be better said by 
those who may come after me, and I will therefore leave it to 
them to speak more particularly of the growth and prosperity of 
West Boylston ; and close my remarks with a brief allusion to 
one of your own beloved pastors ; Rev. William H. Sanford, with 
whom I Avas three years in Harvard College, and subsequently 
enjoyed a very pleasant ministerial intercourse of nearly twenty 
years. His class, that of 1827, was distinguished for talent, 
having furnished the presidents of two colleges, Dr. Felton, of 
Harvard, and Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Amherst. The late Rev. Dr. 
Sweetser, of Worcester, and Rev. Mr. Rogers, of the Winter 
Street Church of Boston, were members of that class. 

It was also distinguished for its curious combination ot 
names. They did not all graduate, but their names were all in 
the college catalogue at one time ; I think it was in the sopho- 
more year. 1 do not recall them all, but I ramember the follow- 
ing : Brooks and Wells, Miles and Inches, Toy and Paint, Potts 
and Kettle. There was a student from the South, by the name 
of Hamilton Potts, and Rev. Mr. Rogers name in college, was 
Samuel Mattrick Elian Kettle. Thus you will perceive, the class 
was well provided with both cabinet and kitchen furniture. 

In announcing the next toast, the toast-master said : We 
cannot pass by the town of West Boylston, without offering 
some tribute of regard to the memory of one who in the days of 
the Revolution, was one of the most active and patriotic citizens 
of the Shrewsbury North Parish, who was inllucntial in the incor- 
poration of the town of Boylston, and twenty-two years later the 
principal petitioner for the incorporation of West Boylston. 
A man who lived in three different towns, and yet never changed 
his place of residence. 



BOYLSTON CEXTENXIAL. 75 

To the memonj uj Major Kzra Beaniaii^lh^ cliairniau o/ l/'tc 
first Board of Selectmen of Boylston and West Boylston, and the 
first representative to the General Court from both toivns ; a 
brave patriot, a conscientious man, and a useful citizen, may his 
memory endure so long' as both towns shall exist. 

Responded to by George M. Lourie, Esq., of West Boylston. 

The town of Sterling ; the ancient Chocksett ; the dwelling 
place of Sholan and the Nashaway ; we are glad to greet her 
citizens and reneio formalities upon this Centennial Day. 

Response by Arthur P. Rugg, Esq., of Sterling. 

Mr. Toast-master, Ladies and Gentlemen: — Boylston and 
Sterling are the two daughters of mother Lancaster, most nearly 
allied to each other in size, position and age. With an interval 
of only five years between their births, and separated by a far 
longer period from any of their sisters, they have kept step 
through their history in the tastes and occupation of their inhabi- 
tants, and in their general characteristics as towns. 

In neither have great manufacturing interests centered ; in 
Boylston not enough to change it from an agricultural communi- 
ty ; while in Sterling the few which once existed have almost 
entirely died out. The value of her annual manufactures half a 
century ago exceeded by many thousand of dollars, the present 
product. Consequently there has been little or no increase in 
population ; indeed Sterling numbers less now than when she 
first took her place among the towns in the county. The list of 
tax-payers and voters changes not materially from year to year. 
Many of the names foremost when our town was incorporated, 
still appear prominently among our citizens. 

When with these facts in mind, one looks over the beauti 
fully diversified landscape of forest and field, hill and vale of 
these sister towns, quiet farm-houses nestling here and there, 
but no noisy factories or bustling villages to break the silence, 
with almost literal truth might be applied the lines of Gray: 



76 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

*• Far from the m;idding crowds' ignoble strife 
Tlieir sober wishes never learned to stray: 
Along the cool, seqijostered vale of life 
They kept the eveu tenor of their way." 

But is this want of material progress all together a cause of 
regret ? It needs only such a celebration as this to answer us, 
No. This ingathering of so many lionorably eminent sons of 
the ancient mother town, teach that her chief and most enduring 
glory is not tlic number of her population, nor the aggregate of 
her valuation, but raMicr in the quality of the sons and daughters 
she has produced. The brighcst jewels of her centennial coro- 
net, arc not the gold and silver gathered within her borders, but 
the men and women who come back to honor her as their first 
home. 

Eistory and observation show that among those who have 
climbed the higliest in business or in the professions, have been 
those who received their early training in country towns. The 
strength of character, and habits of economv, and shrewdness, 
instilled into their being in youth, were the elements which in- 
sured them success wherever they miglit go. If I mistake not. 
Sterling has given at least one to each of the professions whom 
the country could have ill afforded to be without. 

A son of our first minister, Prentice Meller, was the first, 
and for many years tlie Chief-Justice of Maine, and one of the 
soundest lawyers who have helped to make her jurisprudence 
respected. 

The next generation gave to the Unitarian pulpit in the per- 
son of Dr. George Putnam, one whose silver-tongued eloquence 
and profound thought did much to render Boston the purest, as 
well as the most cultured of our great cities. 

And many who^e blindness has been turned in vision, and 
whose ears have been unstopped, will pour down blessings on the 
head of the youngest of our eminent sons, and who is privileged 
to be here to-day — Dr. William flolcombe, of New York. 

Besides these a far larger number liave gone forth from our 
borders to share in the business and in tlie prosperity of larger 
towns and cities. No doubt Boylston can at least furnish a 
counterpart to this list from among her own sons. This is why 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 77 

tliey do not increase in population ; they generously i^iva to the 
cities a goodly proportion of each generation, retaining only 
enough to keep the stock of the old town good. 

No, the nation cannot afford to do without these staid old 
country towns, and tiie strong men wliom they furnished her. 
And it is safe to say that the need for the cliaracteiistics which 
the country boys of generations gone by, liavc supplied to the 
business and professional life of the state, is as great now as 
before. 

The five years of Sterling's second century wliich have al- 
ready elapsed, show that she appreciates in some degree tlie 
duties of country towns, for she has established a high school 
and appropriated liberally for its support, and in the past six 
years has graduated four of her sons from college. 

In presenting on this occasion the heartiest congratulations 
of the elder to the younger sister, on the completion of so suc- 
cessful and honorable an hundred years of corporate life, I can 
think of no better sentiment in which to embody them tlian this: — 
Boylston and Sterling, may they live tiirough their second and 
succeeding centuries in the sisterly emulation of giving the state 
and country the truest examples of American manhood. 

yhe Town of Clinton, the youngest daughter of old Lancas- 
ter, her teeming industries, led by millions of jhjing spin'lles, 
have enabled her to far outstrip the mother toium and all the 
family circle in population, toeallh and resources. 

Response by C. C. Gook, Esq., 
Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Clinton. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen; — In rising to re- 
spond to this toast, so complimentary to the town of Clinton, I 
am mindful of the fact that gentlemen from Clinton arc seated at 
this table, whose eloquence far transends any language at my 
command ; still, owing to the position I have the honor to hold 
temporarily, a few words of congratulation may not be out of 
place. And, in behalf of the citizens of Clinton, I do congratu^ 



78 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

late you that you have reached your one hundredth birthday 
under such favorable circnmstances. Tlie day itself, with its 
cloudless sunshine, seems to bespeak another century of peace 
and prosperity for the good old town of Boylston. 

You have been pleased to call Clinton "the youngest daugh- 
ter of old Lancaster," and yet Clinton is thirty-six years of age. 
This may, or may not be considered a compliment as the oppo- 
site sex, you know, are somewhat timid in this particular, cer- 
tainly, after having reached the age of twenty-five years. When 
you say, however, "Her teeming industries, led by millions of fly- 
ing spindles, have enabled her to outstrip the mother town, and all 
the family circle, in population, wealth and resources," we hide 
our blushes and tliank you heartily for such a wholesale compli- 
ment, and yet are not such the facts ? 

From the few small factories, thirty-six years ago, scattered 
along our streams, we now point with pride to several of the 
largest industries of their kind in the country, one of which is 
taxed this year for nearly one and a quarter millions of 
dollars. 

The history of this marvelous growth cannot be given in a 
brief after-dinner speech. The chief reason, however, for this 
wonderful and continued prosperity lies in the fact that from the 
date of her incorporation until this very day, our capitalists,, 
merchants, manufacturers, and citizens generally have taken as 
much interest in the welfare of the town as in their own, conse- 
quently Clinton, to-day, enjoys nearly all the advantages and 
conveniences of a modern city. The present year more money 
will be expended in enlarging factories, building new, and erect- 
ing private residences, than has been expended in any one year 
since the incorporation of the town. 

And sir, does not the prosperity of Clinton mean also the 
prosperity of Boylston ? Those of us in middle life remember 
the old covered market wagon that wended its toilsome way " on 
the road to Boston." Now you have a market at your very doors. 
May the mutual good fellowship now existing between Boylston 
and Clinton long contiime, and allow me to improve this oppor- 
tunity to invite you one and all to the centennial celebration of 
Clinton in the year 1950. May you all live to see that day. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 79 

TItP town of Berlin. Anullmr dfisct:ndant <>J old LancuHter. 
Like BoyhLon^ her ^roiulh has been slow and vi^orouH. If her 
frarmenls v)ere not fashioned, her pallern., at least as a town, luas 
parti ij formed bij a Boijislon Taijlor. We are }>lad to return, the 
inlerchani^e of CeiUfnnial '^reelin'^s ufion this daij. 'io the town 
of Berlin and the memory of Daoid Taylor. 

Kejspoiided to by Rev. William A. Houghton, of norliii. 

Mr. President : — 1 rewpond Kyaipatlictically to the expicsised 
rclatioiisliip of my native town to yoias, though somewhat jjuz- 
zled as to our consanguinity, by your one-fourth descent from 
lierlin's good grandniotlier. Evidently IJoylston is thus a (quad- 
roon, iiut we stand by our kin anyway. 

Berlin has kept its best side towards Boylston. Tliat is, one 
of them. We have several, — our inside is best. Boylstonward 
stood John Hudson, sentinel of Cull Hill, father of Hon. Charles 
Hudson, aud an original member of our church. Next on lino 
stood the Barneses, a name of noble record, and perpetuated in 
Bajues Hill. To our loss you enticed some of them over the 
line, — David iiarnes, John iiarnes, and others, stand largely in 
our reading for Boylston. But when, as Shrewsbury, "N. P.," 
you courted I^hillip Larkin and Larkindale, your suit failed. 
Joshua Houghton, my kinsman far back (on the present Israel 
Baines place), and Daniel Albert and his son Frederick, near 
the present fine residence of Henry C. Hastings, sought to push 
your northern boundary a mile and a half into Lancaster, Phillip 
appealed and you were compelled to jump his farni whicli was 
kept in Lancaster till our organization. True, you were kind 
enough to send us a very good Taylor to lielj) j)ut us " in fash- 
ion " as a town. Your record of our David, as a workman in 
Boylston, is very commendable — Town Clerk, Selectman, Asses- 
sor. Parish Clerk, etc. He was our first Precinc;t Clerk ; also, 
was original member of the church. He died, 17'J4, his widow 
in 180'J. Tiiey settled, with their daughter Esther and son-in- 
law. Deacon Job Spoiford, on the Assaljet, and, I think, on ihe 
territory which the Taylor's (of Marlborough then), left when 
they emigrated to iihrewsbury sixty years before. David Tayigr 



80 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

was a mighty man of valor. Towns were proud of such in those 
days. In one of the " borough towns " the minister was cham- 
pion ; a teamster, at the public inn, defied the whole borough ; 
the evening wore on and he was victor. The parson was sent 
for; the call stirred his prowess, and coming in, he said: "Who 
is this Goliath that defies our army ? " Goliath came forth only 
to be laid on the floor. Our David was champion in lifting. In 
the ISavy Yard, one day, the marines tauntingly defied the coun- 
tryman to " end-up " one of the cannon. He did so, and to the 
amazement of the looi^ers-on, threw the lower end of it over his 
shoulder, in which tremendous exertion he burst open a new pair 
of cow-hide shoes. Our traditions never surrender on the feat, 
the fact, nor the shoes. We have natives who, before, in athletic 
strains, had burst indispensable attire, but we surrender to Boyl- 
ston town on king David. 

Personally 1 just missed of Taylor blood in my own muscle. 
My grandfather, in second marriage, took Mary Taylor, of Boyl- 
ston. She called her only son Jonah in honor of the prophet, I 
always supposed. Her son's son she named Jonah Taylor, which 
name the naughty boy rejected when he grew up. But he knew 
not the history of his own name. Ward's Shrewsbury gives 
Jonali Taylor, son of William Taylor, born on the place of the 
late Amasa Howe, killed in the capture of Louisburg 1745, aged 
28 years. So Mary Taylor commemorated the Shrewsbury pa- 
triot in Berlin, seventy-five years later, in the name of Jonah 
Taylor Houghton. Remember, friends, what your names mean. 

I have noticed, Mr. President, that we are called " the little 
towns." Of right we should have been the big ones. Our Cen- 
tral Massachusetts Railroad lies on the direct line from Boston 
to Albany. Before the Boston and Albany Railroad was thought 
of, Loammi Baldwin, of Woburn, discoverer of the Baldwin 
apple on his own farm, civil engineer, built a little observatory 
in one of those ever sightly elms on Watoquadock Hill in Bolton, 
to take the depressiors and elevations of the surrounding region 
with reference to a canal (a la Erie) from Albany to Boston. 
Berlin, West Berlin and Sawyer's Mills gave in our tonnage in 
1825 on that idea. Tiie Boston and Albany should have been on 
that line, but Worcester, like CaBsar, was ambitious. Tliej 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



81 



stole our march, as they did the County seat from Lancaster. 
They got a canal too, while we were talking about one. I saw 
in the Massachusetts Spy, one day, heavy head lines, " Port of 
Worcester,'' arrivals, so and so. One holiday I went on foot 
six miles to see the Worcester and Providence craft come into 
" Port." We returned in the mood of the inland party who, in 
the time of " Madison's War," made a trip to Boston to see the 
embargo on the harbor. I saw no steamboat, nor any other boat 
or craft, but Worcester was there in her ever-winning attitude, 
and ever since she built the great thoroughfare from the "Joe 
Bill road" to the Curtis farm (Adams Square), four rods wide, 
" all roads" in Worcester county " lead to Home." That road 
was built for Boylston and the " regions beyond " to come to 
Worcester, not for Worcester to go thither, Did you ever come 
to any " cross roads " in Worcester county woods where the 
guideboard did not direct you to that winsome and receptive city? 

Well, the small towns have their uses. What would Wor- 
cester have l)een but for Boylston ? You may well take on some 
airs to-day, ns you do. "The Heart of the Commonwealth" is 
waiting at your doors for more Mayors still, and I see several 
young men in the committees of to-day who will soon be ready. 
But I am thinking, Mr. President, of your noble mother, your 
seventy-five per cent, mother, dear old Shrewsbury. She forgot 
her birthday, and now she must wait. But you will have a good 
time when she invites you all home in 1927. Berlin had an 
occasion like yours, in kind, two years ago. Our good mother, 
Bolton, too, overslept her birthday. She will report on her one 
hundred and fiftieth two years hence. Ambitious Clinton can 
hardly wait to " tell the story of her birth." West Boylston has 
only twenty yeais to wait. 

A recent history is entitled " The People of 'the United 
States." In working up a "Centennial Memorial" of Berlin 
families, I have traversed this whole region when Lancaster was 
frontier. No Westborough, no Northborough, no Shrewsbury, 
no Worcester, nor aught from Marlborough to Brookfield and 
Springfield. I am not more amazed at the steamboat, the iron 
horse, the telegraph, than I am at what the fathers, by toil, en- 
durance, patriotism and faith, wrought upon these forests in the 



82 BOYLSTON" CENTENNIAL. 

planting of towns. But we are distressed at the scantiness of 
records. More than to all others are we indebted to the old 
" halfway covenant," in the baptism of children, for the origin 
of families. Over seven hundred names thus recorded in the first 
half century of Berlin, my native town, I shall always hold to 
infant baptism. 

Personally, I would Hive to speak of many Boylston families. 
The ministry has been happily considered. My Brother Sanford 
was too modest for a man of his abilities. He was a classical 
scholar. Harvard college committed to him her students and 
gave him the authority of the Faculty. My Brother Bigelow, 
also gone, lionored Iiis town and calling. As a personal friend 
none knew him but to cherish his company and counsel. His 
benevolence made many hearts glad ; and who, that has known, 
shall ever forget the world's most eloquent orator — John B. 
Gough, of Boylston ? 

Woi'cesfer, the Heart of the Commonwealth^ the town of 
Boylston greets her citizens upon this Centennial Day. May 
the associations of the occasion unite the two places in closer 
bonds of good-will and friendship. 

In reading this toast the toast-master referred to the fact 
that scarcely any other town had furnished so many prominent 
citizens to the City of Worcester as Boylston. She includes 
among the list two ex-Mayors in the persons of the President 
and Marshal of this day ; Aldermen and members of the Com- 
mon Council, members of the School Board, of the Overseers of 
the Poor, a Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, a City Mar- 
shal, and a City Engineer. With all this array of men who have 
honored the town of their birth, and the city of their adoption, 
we feel that Boylston has a perfect right to ask Worcester men 
to assist in this days services. 

Response by Hon. Charles B. Pkatt, 
ex-Mayor of Worcester, and Chief Marshal of the day. 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 83 

Mr. President : — I am doubly honored here to-day, and es" 
pecially do I feel the honor in being called upon to respond for 
the city of Worcester. We of that city are proud of everytliing 
that slie contains ; proud of her institutions of learning and of 
charity; proud of her enterprise and her wealth; proud of her 
municipal government and the management of all her depart- 
ments ; and particularly proud in being the center and metropo- 
lis of the grand old towns in the central county of the State. 
We feel that we are the focus from which emanates all the wis- 
dom and goodness that dominates and controls the outside world. 
I notice that Worcester people who go abroad nev'cr see any- 
thing nor learn anything during their absence, but always return 
with the unchanged conviction that Worcester is the greatest, 
the best, and the most beautiful city on the face of the earth. 

But, Mr. President, whatever qualities Worcester may pos- 
sess to-day, we must remember that for those qualities she is 
indebted largely to the intelligence and character of the people 
by whom she has been surrounded. They have contributed the 
elements that have made her what she is, and from them she has 
drawn the most valuable constituents of her being. In the 
midst of a community like this, and subject to such influences, 
how could she fail of becoming what she has become — the model 
city of the Commonwealth. 

One gentleman has said this afternoon, that the sign-boards 
in the county only proclaim tlie fact that all roads lead to Wor- 
cester. We in the city know that any road out of it is sure to 
lead us into some old town like this, where peace and quiet has 
been unbroken for a century, and where we may come with tired 
brain and overworked body for rest and refreshment. I have 
said that we are proud of our enterprise, but there are times in 
the midst of the whirl of business and advance, and ever-chang- 
ing improvement in the city, that a feeling of regret comes that 
the old land-marks have been removed, and that our familiar 
spots have become strange places. It is not so here. Boylston 
is to-day what she was when I first knew her, and it is a comfort 
and a consolation to those who have gone out into the busy 
world, to know that they can find the place of their childhood 
unchanged, and the home of their early days undisturbed. 



84 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

I am gratified that I have been able to tal^e part in these 
proceedings to-day, in celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary 
of our town. May the happiness and prosperity with which she 
has been blessed in the past, continue with her in the future. 

For nearly forty years this town was the residence of one of 
the most eloquent orators, most earnest ivorkers and ablest advo- 
cates for temperance and humanity lohich the world has ever pro- 
duced — John B. Gough. We venerate his memory and shall 
keep in lasting remembrance his associations with this town. 
May his dying- words ever be an incentive to the youth of this 
community to urge them forvmrd in the paths of truth and 
virtue. 

Response — Dirge by the Band. 

To the memory of Ward Nicholas Boylston. the founder 
and benefactor of the town. 

In response to this toast the following communication was 
read : 

Providence, August 16, 1886. 
The family of the late Ward Nicholas Boylston regret that 
they can only express their gratitude to tlie town of Boylston for 
the kind remembrance of their ancestor, and their good wishes 
for the prosperity of the town. 

For the family, 

C. W. Parsons. 

The following sentiment from Thomas White, Esq., of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., was received too late for announcement at the 
celebration : 

The Town Meeting — the germ of our republican institu- 
tions — first organized for the government of the town of Boyl- 
ston by its inhabitants one hundred years ago ; a government 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 85 

based on the piety, 'patriotism, and educated intelligence of the 
people, the maintenance of those ancestral virtues, the surest 
guaranty of the prosperity of the toivn for one hundred years 
to come. 

At five o'clock, the toast-master called for a vote of thanks 
to Hon. Phinehas Ball, the President of the Day, and Hon. 
Charles B. Pratt, the Chief Marshal, which was cordially re- 
sponded to. The President then declared the festivities at 
an end. 



NOTES OF THE DAY. 



THE DECORATIONS. 

The decorations consisted of a very general display of bunt- 
ing and colors from the houses from the center, and in the im- 
mediate vicinity. Just at tlie junction of the Shrewsbury and 
Worcester roads, an arch spanned the street, gaily decorated 
with bunting and evergreen, and bearing on its face the words : 
" Boylston welcomes home her sons and daughters ;" and on the 
reverse : " Dear to the heart are the scenes of childhood ;" both 
sides also bearing the dates ''1786, 1886." Close by, on the little 
triangular park, stood the old " Powder House," built in 1772, 
but in its substantial renovation and gay colors just put on, bear- 
ing little trace of its antiquity. Within it stood an old flint-lock. 
On the same park stood a large tent for the dinner, while across 
the street to the east was anotlier for the literary exercises. 
The residence of Henry V. Woods was decorated with bunting, 
tastetully arranged. John G. Warner had a large array of bunt, 
ing and flags, covering the front of his house. Henry Bray dis- 
played a large flag. A. E. Waterman decorated his dwelling with 
bunting and small flags. L. P. Kendall had out a pleasing dis- 
play of colors and streamers. Henry White's house was prettily 
ornamented. Joseph M. Wright combined the trio of national 
colors, making a neat appearance. Fred Morey's house was 
decorated with bunting. B. C. Lane made a grand display at his 
house in flags and bunting. John T. Andrews floated streamers 
and lines of flags from a staff. Daniel Marsh decorated with 
bunting, and floated a flag over the street. Deacon Brigham's 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 87 

house, and the homestead place of the late Stephen Flagg, were 
decorated with considerable taste. The church was decorated 
inside with flowers, and outside with flags and bunting. The 
Town Hall had like decorations, and across all the roads enter- 
ing the village were large flags. 

THE COLLECTION OF RELICS. 

In the Town Hall was a large collection of old relics. 
Among them wc noticed a communion plate 140 years old ; some 
britannia cups 110 years old ; many old hats, pieces of clothing 
and army pieces and uniforms. There was a large collection from 
the Bigelow family. Andrew Bigelow had three son's who were 
ministers, and copies of their sermons, at least half a century 
old, have been preserved ; the collection also include a gourd 
bottle, made of a gourd which grew m 1778 ; it was uniquely 
decorated ; there was also a piece of linen made by the same 
family by hand, which is 130 years old, as well as some of the 
money with which Andrew Bigelow was paid when he was a 
Revolutionary soldier. 

Among the old books was a copy of the Perpetual Laws of the 
Commonwealth from 1780 to 1789 ; a copy of the charter granted 
by Queen Mary to the inhabitants of the Province of Massachu- 
setts Bay in New England. A plough made in 1634. owned by 
Israel L. Barnes, and which has always been in the Barnes fam- 
ily ; an old chair, once the property of Judge Chandler ; a solid 
shot, about twelve pounds, fired in New Orleans in 1812 ; an 
old pair of scales, at least a century old ; a valise of Parson Cot- 
ton that is about ninety years old ; a compass, supposed to be the 
property of Robert Andrews, one of the first settlers, and has 
been in the Andrews family for over a century. There was a 
large amount of crockery, some of it very old. 

MUSIC. 

The music during the day was furnished by the Worcester 
Brass Band. A concert was given from the band stand on the 
common, from 8.30 to 9 a. m. 



o5 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

SALUTES. 

Salutes were fired at suurise and at noon, by Battery B, M. 
V. M. An exhibition drill by the Battery took place at noon, 

FIELD SPORTS. 

The following is a list of the field sports engaged in at the 
Centennial Celebration of the town of Boylston, August 18, 
1886, with names of winning parties. 

From 10 a. m. to 12 m., a matched game of base-ball was 
played between a nine from Shrewsbury, and a nine from Saw- 
yer's Mills. The prize offered, a ball and bat, was won by the 
Sawyer's Mills nine. 

From 1 P. M. to 4 p. m., foot race first, S. McQuoid ; second, 
C. Andrews. 

Three-legged Race — First, S. McQuoid and W, Richardson; 
second, C. Andrews and F. Andrews. 

Sack Race — First, A. Jeffrey ; second, O'Malia. 

Hurdle Race — First, O'Malia ; second, C. Andrews. 

Wheel-barrow Race — First, O'Malia ; second, S. Bartlett. 

Apple Race — First, D. Chase ; second, C. Mathews. 

Doughnut Race — First, A. Newton ; second, P. Kelley. 

First prize on above races one dollar, second prize fifty cents. 

The prize of five dollars for winning side on tug-of-war, was 
awarded to Fielding, W. Bates, C. Mathews, F. Cooley and 
G. Sule. 

Three parties made unsuccessful attempts at climbing the 
greased pole. No prize was awarded. 

Charles Bray. 
C. W. Moore. 
M. Flagg, Jr. 
Charles Cutler. 
G. A. Hastings. 

Committee on Sports. 



BOYLSTON CENTENKIAL. 89 

The following letters were received : 

[Prom John A. Davenport, Esq., of New York.] 

833 Broadway, New York, Aug. 16, 1886. 
Hon. Phinehas Ball, President. 

Dear Sir : — Learning from one of your county newspapers 
that the citizens of Boylston intend to celebrate the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of its existence, I had fully intended to be 
present*. But more recent events occurring to prevent my at- 
tendance, I take the liberty of sending to them, through you, my 
hearty congratulations. 

" Though being to the manor born," I have not resided in 
my native town for over fifty years, nor visited it for over twenty 
years. But I have ever had a great reverence for my native 
town, the home of my ancestors, from my great grand -parents, 
both maternal and paternal, down to my honored parents, all of 
whom, with seven brothers and sisters lie buried in one of your 
cemeteries, and by whose side I may hope to lie, admonished by 
my seventy years, in the very near future. 

It may not be known to many of the citizens of Boylston 
that Eleazer, son of Capt. Richard Davenport, who landed from 
England with Governor Endicott in Salem, September 16, 1628, 
was granted by the then colonial state of Massachusetts, six hun-_ 
dred acres of land in this town, some of which is now occupied 
by Dr. F. B. Willurd, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Daggett, and Mr. 
George L. Lamson. Some seventy acres of this land remained 
in the possession of his descendants until within a few years. 
My father, James Davenport, lived upon it for more than fifty 
years, being one of the foremost men of the town ; a magistrate 
for more than forty years, a leader in the cause of education, the 
first to form a Lyceum for the instruction of the young, the first 
to discard the use of alcoholic drinks and form the first tem- 
perance society in the town, and noted for his efforts in the cause 
of the abolition of slavery in the south ; chairman of the com- 
mittee which planned and caused the construction of your town 

* Mr. Davenport was, through some change of circumstances, able to be 
present, and attended the celebration. 



90 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

hall, in the school-room of which I received a part of my early 
education, an intimate friend of the late Governors Lincoln and 
Davis, and Judge Merrick and other prominent men of your 
county. 

In the remembrance of all these early associations is it any 
wonder that I revere this, my native town ? 

In conclusion, permit me to hope that the boundaries of 
this town may never again be lessened, that its population may 
be increased, and that they may ever be a prosperous, united 
and happy people. 

Very truly, 

John Addington Davenport. 

[From Caleb S. Grossman.] 

Van West, 0., Aug. 13, 1886. 
Messrs. Nathaniel L. Kendall, Joseph M. Wright, and Mon- 
TRAViLLE Flagg, Esqus, Coui. Oil IncUaliofis. 

Gentlemen : — Your letter of invitation to me to come and 
join hands with you in celebrating the glorious Centennial Birth- 
day of my own, my native town — Boylston, — name always re- 
membered and revered, was duly received, and I cannot express 
to you, on paper, how deeply I regret the necessity of saying, " I 
cannot come." My health is such, and the weather is, and has 
been, so terribly hot (mercury up from 90'' to 104° in the shade) 
I am advised that it would be too severe a tax upon my strength 
for me to venture on so long a journey, aside from the excite- 
ment attendant upon the so grand and happy occasion. I shall 
be with you in heart and spirit. 

Thanking you for your kindly invitation, I am 

Yours with high regard, 

C. S. Grossman. 

[From William J. White, Esq.] 

Worcester, Aug. 6, 1886. 
Mr. Nathaniel L. Kendall, 

Dear Sir : — I received a circular, a few days ago, from the 
Committee on Invitations to attend the Centennial Celebration 
to be held in Boylston on the 18th of this month. 



BOYL8TON CENTENNIAL. 9 J 

My advanced ago and jiiliimitieH render it Home what liaz- 
ardous for me to be present on so exciting an occasion, so that 
it will he (|uil<; uncertain alj(jut my going. 
Yours very truly, 
53 Prospect Street. William J. White. 

The following tel<;gram was received from the Centennial 
Committee of the Town of Phillipston, whose oikj hundredth 
anniversary was celebrated tlie same day: 

I'niiJJi'HTON, Mash , Aug., IH, 1880. 

to the cuaiuman of the centennial commi'itbe, boylston, 

Mass. : 

rhillip.ston sends congratulations to Boylston on this tlio 
one hundredth anniversary of ou)- towns, August 18. May pivjH- 
perity attend you in the future. 

H, Sanderson, 
Chairman ('('a. CommiUet. 

The following was sent in reply : 

BoYLSTON, Mass., Aug. 18, 1886. 
To THE Centennial Committee, j'hj/jjj'ston: 

Boylst^m sends tlianks for the congratulations, and also 
sends her greetings to i^hillij>ston on this the one hundredth 
anniversary of the town August 18th. Long may your children 
gather round you and greet you on your birthdays as circling 
centuries roll. 

J. O. Wauneb, 

Ckairman Cen. Com. 



92 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

BOYLSTON'S CEJSTEi^^iAL CELEBRATION. 

August 18, 1886. Incokpobatkd March 1, 1786. 

'Twas winter when a town new-born 
The fathers hailed with loving pride; 

We greet the century's briglit'ning dawn 

Mid summer's pomp of waving corn, 
And wealthy harvests wide. 

Here those who link the olden time 

With time that is rejoicing meet ; 
Here youthful hope and manly prime, 
Like bells diverse that tuneful chime, 

The gladsome tale repeat. 

The children Boylston sent away 
To earn renown in broader spheres. 

Come back about her hearth to-day, 

And in her lap their trophies lay, 
With mirth, and love, and tears. 

The anthems that we oifer here 

Hold one sweet note of tender pain : 

One honored son doth not appear ; 

(Adopted, yet esteemed most dear). 
We wait for Gough in vain ! 

Behind we look and fondly trace 

The record that our sires have made ; 
And memory lends her tender grace 
To name and deed, to time and place, — 
A light that shall not fade. 

We gaze through future vistas far 
We step beneath a broadening arch ; 

No limit shall our progress bar, 

Ours all the coming ages are, — 
The endless century-march. 

Clara L. Shattuck, Berlin. 



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HISTORICAL NOTES. 



MAJOR EZRA BEAMAN. 

[The following brief biography and accompanying docu- 
ments are extracted from " A Sketch of the Life of Major Ezra 
Beaman," by Albert A. Lovell, first printed in the Proceedings of 
The Worcester Society of Antiquity, and since published in sepa- 
rate form by Franklin P. Rice, of Worcester.] 

Ezra Beaman was born in Bolton, Mass., October l(j, 1736. 
He was the son of Jabez Beaman, who having purchased a large 
tract of land in the westerly part of the town of Shrewsbury, 
favorably situated on both sides of the Nashua River, including 
some of the most fertile in that region, removed thence with his 
family in 1746. Jabez Beaman dying in 1757, the homestead 
came under the proprietorsliip of Ezra, the eldest son, where he 
resided until his death. In 1758 he married Persis, daughter of 
Cyprian tcyes, with whom he lived thirty years. She died No- 
vemljer 7th, 1788, at the age of 50 years. By this marriage he 
had six children. He afterwards married Mary, daughter of 
Richard Boylston, of Cliarlestown, who survived him. 

It was a characteristic of Major Beaman that he was consti- 
tuted with an active and vigorous mind, combined wiih wonder- 
ful energy, decision, firmness and perseverance. Thus con- 
stituted he was constantly engaged iu projects both of a piiblic 
and private nature wliich accrued to his own emolument and to 
great and essential advantage to the whole community. His 
judgment was almost unerring, and his designs generally re- 
sulted in accordance with his expectations and desires. Such 



94 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

was the confidence reposed in him, and in such high estimation 
was he held by the people, not only of his own town, but of a 
large surrounding section, that whenever any project of a public 
nature bearing upon the well-being of the people at large was to 
be considered, he was at once consulted and generally in accord- 
ance with his expressed opinion either for or against, was the 
* scheme adopted or rejected. 

In 1764 he erected a dwelling-house on the tract purchased 
by his father, which he occupied until his death, and which his 
son, bearing the same name, continued to occupy for half a cen- 
tury later. 

This house, in the thoroughness of its construction, its size 
and its architectural proportions, was probably unsurpassed by 
anything of its kind in the county. This was know as the Bea- 
man Tavern, and for a century was a typical Way-side Inn ; and 
from it went out an influence which was felt, not only in its im- 
mediate vicinity but throughout a large extent of country. 

The tavern of one hundred years ago, and even up to the 
time when the railroad superseded the stage and the team as a 
means of transportation for passengers and merchandise, especi- 
ally when its proprietor was a person of prominence and force, 
was a power in the community. During the days of the Revolu- 
tion the tavern was the resort of tories or patriots according to 
the political proclivities of the landlord, and here were schemes 
devised, either foi- or against the patriot cause according to the 
political character which it assumed. It was at the tavern 
where the people most frequently assembled either in a formal or 
informal manner to discuss, debate, devise and carry forward 
such plans and projects as from time to time occupied the atten- 
tion of the people. Its good cheer no doubt lent its aid, and who 
can tell what inspiration it imparted ? The influence of the Bea- 
man Tavern was decidedly in favor of the patriot cause and a 
favorite stopping place for soldiers on their way to and from the 
army, there to impart or receive the latest information in regard 
to events so rapidly transpiring. 

Major Beaman was a true and ardent patriot. When the 
first encroachments of arbitrary power were beginning to be felt 
he was convinced that nothing short of forcible resistance woul4 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 95 

be of any avail, and during the struggle he was an active and un- 
flinching spirit in behalf of the liberties of the people. lie was 
with the army near Boston in 1775,* was present and took part 
in the action on Bunker Hill, and during the whole war was ac- 
tively engaged in whatever tended to the advancement of tlie 
cause. His time, his influence, his property, were devoted to the 
cause of colonial independence, making the pledge his own, of 
life, property and sacred honor. 

The people of Shrewsbury manifested their confidence in 
him by repeatedly electing him a member of the Board of Select- 
men. He was thus chosen in 1706-69-70-71-72-73-76-79-84-85. 
We of this day can hardly realize the importance of the office of 
selectman of a town for the years immediately preceding and 
during the Revolution. The position seems to have implied but 
little, but ill reality it implied much. In towns true to the 
patriot cause it implied a lofty patriotism and an unyielding 
firmness, and was an office of the utmost importance and respon- 
sibility. Not only were the selectmen called upon to take care 
of the ordinary interests of the town, but much additional labor 
was required. The procuring of soldiers to fill requisitions for 
men, the raising of money and supplies of provisions, and cloth- 
ing for the army, the care of the families of soldiers, besides the 
carrying on of the war-to a great extent on the part of the town. 
As was often the case the Committees of Safety and Correspond- 
ence were made up wholly or in part from their number. In ac- 
cordance with recommendations of the Provincial Congress, the 
town exercised largely legislative, executive and judicial func- 
tions; its votes were laws, its judgment as to whether a man was 
a patriot or a tory was final, and from the verdict of hostility 
there was no appeal ; and the selectmen and committees exe- 
cuted their decrees with spirit and firmness. By direction of the 
town they entered tories' houses, disarmed them, confined them 



* The powder horn of Lieut. Beaman, now in possession of The Worcester 
Society of Antiquity, is a beautiful and interesting relic. The inscription upon 
it is as follows: " Lieut. Ezra Beaman, liis horn, made at Fox Poynt, so called, 
in Dorchester September the 30 y^lTTS, in Thomas Gage's war who came to 
Boston ye Americans for to enslave and take their rights away. Made by 
Micah Briar d." 



96 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

to limits or in jail as the case might require. Thus the office 
was no sinecure, but on the contrary one of great labor, and prob- 
ably at no time in the history of the colonies or the states, has 
such care been exercised in the choice of town officers as during 
this period of toil and strife. It is difficult at this day to realize 
the amount of labor and responsibility which devolved upon them. 

Major Beaman, aside from his services in the army, acted a 
prominent part in tlie revolutionary proceedings of the town. As 
selectman, member of the committee of inspection, committee of 
correspondence and safety, as a prosecutor of persons inimically 
disposed towards the cause of the colonies, as one chosen to pro- 
cure men and supplies for the continental army, he was zealous 
and indefatigable. 

In 1781 the people of the North Parish desiring to obtain an 
act of incorporation as a town, took steps in that direction. In 
the warrant for a town meeting to be held in May of that year, 
the fifth article was as follows : " To hear the petition of Ezra 
Beaman and others praying to be set off a separate town." Some 
opposition manifesting itself, it was not until 1786 that an act of 
incorporation was obtained. Of the new town, which was named 
Boylston, Ezra Beaman was chosen Chairman of the Board of 
Selectmen, which office he held during the years 1786-88-89-90- 
91-92, and was a member of the board during the years 1803-4, 
5. He was also representative from this town to the Great and 
General Court in 1789-91, and town treasurer 1791-92-93-94. 
In 1794 a controversy arose in relation to the location of a new 
meeting-house about to be erected. Major Beaman, whose resi- 
dence was some three miles vp'est from Boylston center, was desir- 
ous that the new house be erected half a mile northwest of the 
old one. After a protracted struggle the majority decided to 
build upon the old site. Major Beaman, with others, seceded 
and lie, at his own expense, built a meeting-house about three 
miles to the westward, and this difficulty in relation to the meet- 
ing-house culminated, after much difficulty, in the incorporation 
of the town of West Boylston in 1808. 

Of the new town he was chosen Chairman of the Board of 
Selectmen, Town Treasurer and Representative to the General 
Court each year until his death in 1811. Benjamin F. Keyes, in 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 97 

a very brief history of West Boylston, published in 1858, says : 
" Although it may in truth be said that West Boylston eventually 
became a town almost wholly in consequence of his great exer- 
tions and untiring efforts, and that he laid the foundation for its 
future growth and prosperity, and although he did more to pro- 
mote the general interest thereof than all others associated with 
him, yet very little, if anything of adequate importance, has been 
done (aside from a common tomb-stone erected at his grave) 
either by individual citizens or the town, as a testimony of his 
extensive influence, usefulness and great worth as a citizen and 
public benefactor, or for the perpetuation of his memory as one 
of the most distinguished and influential of the town and com- 
munity in which he resided." 

A few years ago, however, the town desiring to do honor to 
his memory as its principal founder, voted by a large majority to 
petition the legislature for a change of name to that of Beaman. 
Some opposition appearing, and the then representative of the 
family, a son of him for whom it was to be named, objecting, the 
petition was never presented. 

Ezra Beaman's death occurred June 4, 1811, and his re- 
mains were buried in the plot of ground appropriated by his 
father, previous to his death, as a family burying ground, and in 
which several generations of the family now He. This ground is 
on a ridge of land half a mile from the old Beaman Mansion, 
near the public road leading to Boylston. It overlooks a beauti- 
ful scenery of intervale bordering on the Nashua river, and is 
enclosed by a remarkably solid and substantial stone wall with 
an iron gateway. 

At his funeral people came from far and near to pay respect 
to his memory. A lady still living, who was present on that 
occasion, seventy years ago, informed me that although the 
place of burial was half a mile from the house, the head of the 
procession had arrived back to its starting point before the 
rear had left it. The inscription on the stone which marks 
his grave is as follows : 



98 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

ERECTED 

IN MEMORY OF 

EZRA BEAMAN Esq« 

WHO DIED 

June 4 1811 

Aged 71 years 7 months 

19 days. 

Friends & Physicians could not save 
My mortal body from the grave 
Nor can the grave confine me here 
When Christ shall call me to appear. 

Major Beaman was rather short in stature, quick and ener- 
getic in motion. He took much pride in beautifying the road- 
sides of the town by planting along the highway adjoining his vast 
estate, trees of various kinds with a view to beauty and shade. 
There is a large buttonwood tree standing by the roadside near 
the old location of the ancient Beaman house bearing the marks 
of age, which was planted by him in 1719, he being then thir- 
teen years of age. His life was devoted to whatever tended to 
the advancement of the interests of the community, and his death, 
was sincerely mourned. He was a member of the Congregational 
Church and was a liberal contributor to the cause of religion. 

The following has an interest as connected with tlic incor- 
poration of the town of Boylston : 

At a legal meeting holden at the Second Precinct in Shrews- 
bury on Monday the Ninth day of May A. D. 1785, the warrant 
for said meeting contained the following article viz; '' "i"*^'^ To 
hear the Petition of the Committee of the Second Precinct in S*^ 
Shrewsbury requesting the town would choose a Joynt Commit- 
tee from each Precinct to perambulate the line and renew the 
Bounds between the Precincts, as also to settle all other matters 
relating to a Separation of Parishes & to act anything relative 
thereto the toun may think proper." The town voted a com- 
mittee consisting of six, three in each precinct, viz: Col" Job 
Cushing, L' Jonas Temple, Capt. Jonah Howe, Capt" Joseph Bige- 
low, Maj"" Ezrah Beaman and Maj"" Asa Rice who reported at a 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL, 99 

subsequent meeting that they had " run the bounds &c.; that the 
one half of the town securities, Town Stock of Ammunition & 
Intrenching tools which are the Property of said Town shall be- 
long to the first precinct, and the other half shall be the property 
of the second Precinct, being equally divided. The Weights & 
Measures to be the property of the first precinct." The poor are 
severally assigned. Voted to sett off. 

The following receipts are interesting as showing the posi- 
tion of the town of Boylston in Shays' Rebellion, and as giving 
the names of persons who served in suppressing that insurrec- 
tion. 

Boylston, May the 4 AD.llSl. 
Then Received of Ezra Beaman the wages that is due to us 
the Subscribers as they are made up in Capt. Robert Andrews' 
Muster Roll, for servisses Dun in suppressing the Late Rebellion 

JOSEPH HERENY 
ELIJAH PIKE 
SILVANUS DINSMOOR. 

Boylston May 10 A. D. 1787 
Then Receivd of Ezra Beaman all the wages that is Due to 
us the Subscribers for Serveises while we ware in Capt. Jonah 
How's Company in Sirpressing tlie Late Rebellion in the west- 
ward County is 

JAMES LONGLEY SAMUEL WHITCOMB ALMEK GOODNUF 

JOHN ANDERSON STEPHE>f BIGLO DAVID RICE 

JONAS GOODNUF JASON GLAZIER KING HOW 

JOTHAM GOODNUF ROBERT HUDSON JOSHUA STILES 

LEVI MOORE AMARIAH SAWYER JOHN WHEELER 

JOHN HASTINGS Jb WILLIAM SAWYER LEVI BIGLOW 

SAMUEL HARTHAN JOSEPH BIGELOW Jit JONATHAN BOND 

Boylston May the Uh 1887 

Then Received of Ezra Beaman the wages that is due to us 

the Subscribers as they are made up on Cap^ Ilollowell Taylers 

Muster Roll for Servisses Dun in Suppressing the Late Rebellion 

in the westward Counties. 

AMHERST MORSE 

JONATHAN BOND Jr 

L«fC JOHN ANDREWS. 



100 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

The documents which follow have an interest as presenting 
a portion of the history of the incorporation of the town of West 
Boylston. In 1794 a petition was presented to the town of Boyl- 
ston as follows : 

To the I/ihabitants of the Town of Boylston, Gentlemen — 
The petition of the Subscribers Humbly Sheiveth 

That your Petitioners view the time as being near at hand 
when circumstances will admit of their enjoying Ecclesiastical 
privileges in a more conscientious, agreeable & in a Much more 
convenient & enlarged manner tlian they have hitherto done, & 
being sensible that Religion the basis of human happiness is a 
natural concomitant of these privilege*, we think it our duty to 
request that you would fully consent to our being incorporated 
into a separate Town, District or Society, as you think most 
proper. We do not solicit this favor wholly with a view to pro- 
mote our Interests, Emolument or convenience, but for the good 
of a respectable number of our Neighbors, the welfare of our own 
& their Children & succeeding generations. Your compliance 
or non compliance with our request we do not consider as deci- 
sive of the cause we have undertaken ; but we view it in your 
present power either to aid or oppose our pursuit of the object 
we aim at. 

We now declare unto you Gentlemen, that we do not wish to 
obtain the Prayer of our Petition to you, or of a similar one to 
higher, power, by any unlawful or unfair means ; but by contrary 
means. We are inflexibly determined to use our utmost efforts, 
Because we are persuaded that our request is not only reasonable 
but that there is a fair prospect of our being separated from you. 
That this is the case we think you will not deny. If so, will it 
not be consistent with your own & our Interest to grant us our 
request. We think it will. 

Consider your Petitioners as separate from you, and you will 
still be a respectable society, more numerous, of greater ability 
than many other Towns in the State. Is a forced connection with 
us worth contending for. Again, we ask what injury can you 
sustain by parting with us. To this you may reply that your minis- 
ters tax will be a little augmented. This will not we think afford 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 101 

you a sufficient plea to withstand or even induce you to engage 
in an uncertain contest. Tliese things Gentlemen we request 
you would wisely consider & your Petitioners as in duty bound 
shall ever pray. 

EZRA BEAMAN 

& 27 others. 

This petition the town refused to grant and the following 
was sent to the Great and General Court: 

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives 
in General Court Assembled. 

Humbly shew the Subscribers your petitioners, agents for 
the second parish in Boylston Holden and Sterling in the County 
of Worcester that the Inhabitants of said Parish are desirous 
that the Territory belonging to said Parish may be constituted 
and incorporated into a District by some proper Name and vested 
with all the Powers and Privileges which by law appertain and 
belong to Districts. 

Your petitioners believe that the Happiness and Comfort of 
the second Parish aforesaid will be promoted by an incorporation 
into a District, that their concerns will be managed with more 
facility, convenience & with less Difficulty than in their present 
situation, that no possible injury can accrue to the town of Boyl- 
ston, Holden & Sterling or any other place, by your granting 
their request. Confidently relying on the Justice & Wisdon of 
the Legislature they humbly hope that their petition will be 
granted and as in Duty bound will ever pray. 

Jan'y 1807 EZRA BE AM AN ■) Agents for and 

JONATHAN PLYMPTON Vin behalt of the 

PAUL GOODALE )> Parish in Boylston 

WILLIAM FAIRBANK ) Holden & Sterling. 

In House of Representatives 
July 23, 1807 Received & Committed to Committee on Towns. 
Sent up for Concurrence PEREZ MORTON Speaker. 
In Senate Jan'y 23 1807, Read & Concurred. 

J. BACON President. 



102 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



The Committee of both Houses appointed to consider the 
Applications for the incorporation of Towns &c. on the Petition 
of Ezra Beaman and others report the following order which is 
submitted. 

SALEM TOWNE Per order. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

Ordered : That the Petitioners cause an attested Copy of their 
Petition with this order thereon, to be served on the respective 
Town Clerks of the Towns of Boylston, Holden & Sterling, 
Forty days at least before the first Tuesday of the first session of 
the next General Court, that all persons may then appear, and 
show cause (if any they have) why the prayer of said Petition 
should not be granted. 

In Senate Jan'y 24th 1807 

Read and passed. Sent down for Concurrence. 

J. BACON President. 
In House of Representatives Jan'y 26th 1807 

Read & Concurred. 

PEREZ NORTON Speaker. 

A copy of this petition was served upon the town clerk of 
Boylston by Silas Beaman. A copy was served upon the town 
clerks of Holden and Sterling by Robert B. Thomas. 

This petition brought out the following remonstrance : 

To the Honorable Senate Sf House of Representatives iu General 
Court Assembled. 

The Inhabitants of the town of Boylston in the County of 
Worcester being cited on the Petition of Ezra Beaman & others 
to shew cause why the second Precinct in the Town of Boylston, 
Sterling & Holden should not be Incorporated into a District : 
The Subscribers, agents for said Town duly authorized <fe appoin- 
ted for that purpose Respectfully submit to your consideration 
their answer to the said prayer of said petition. 

An unfortunate division having arisen in said Town in the 
year 1794 relative to the location of a Meeting house, then about 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 103 

to be erected, a few disaffected individuals have from that period 
been indefatigable in their exertions to produce the dismember- 
ment & eventually the total ruin of the Corporation. In pur- 
suance of this object the leading Petitioner availed himself of the 
Power and Influence derived from an ample fortune, erected a 
Meeting house at his own Individual expense within the limits 
of the present precinct, publicly proclaiming his intention to 
bring a separation as the most direct and certain means of des- 
troying the Town. A petition was presented to the Legislature 
for the Incorporation of a new Town to be composed of certain 
sections of the towns of Boylston, Sterling & Holden ; on this 
Petition the said towns were cited and their opposition having 
proved successful, the next effort was to obtain an Incorporation 
of the present Precinct. Not satisfied with the accomplishment 
of this purpose, a petition was soon after preferred for an enlarge- 
ment of the precinct by lopping off another section of the said 
Town of Boylston. The Inhabitants were again cited and not- 
withstanding their strenuous opposition the object was effected. 

Having thus gradually severed from the original Corpora- 
tion by far the most valuable and fertile portions of the Territory 
& more than one quarter of the whole number of ratable polls, 
the remaining Inhabitants had flattered themselves that the 
enemy would " Cease from troubling" and that they should be 
permitted to enjoy in tranquility the privileges which had been 
left to them after this injurious encroachment. 

It being discovered however that the Town would survive the 
shock and that something more remained to be done before the 
Ancient Corporation would be completely subverted, a new Pro- 
ject is devised & an attempt is now made, (with a spirit of obsti- 
nate perseverance for which our leading opponent is particularly 
distinguished ) to convert the Precinct into a district more effect- 
ually to Impair our privileges and to accom})lish this systematic 
work of Destruction. Possessing advantages for an Increase of 
Population much superior to the first Precinct (from the better 
quality of their Land & other local causes) it is calculated with 
confidence by the Petitioners that the ratable polls within the 
intended district which are now nearly equal will soon exceed in 
number those within the Town of Boylston. By thus bringing to 



104 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

their aid a small portion of the Inhabitants of Sterling and Hol- 
den (who will compose a part of the district) it is intended by 
our enemies Inhabiting this disaffected section to deprive the 
Town of the important privilege of Representation. Such will 
be the Inevitable consequence of incorporating the petitioners 
into a district, Provided such district is attached to the Town of 
Boylston. 

Such we know to be the object of tlieir leaders because it has 
been openly avowed, and although the petition is silent on the 
subject of annexation they have publicly declared their intention 
to be annexed to the Town of Boylston. 

With this impression, with an anxious desire to preserve our 
Corporate existence, to retain the privilege of representation and 
to defeat a project concerted for our complete disfranchisement 
as a member of tlie Commonwealth, We beg leave respectfully & 
earnestly to remonstrate against the prayer of said petition, pro- 
vided the District thus to be incorporated is to be annexed to the 
town of Boylston of which we are Inhabitants. 

At the same time we wish it to be explicitly understood that 
all opposition on our part is withdrawn if it be consented on the 
part of the petitioners or is found expedient by the Legislature 
to annex the intended District to Sterling, Holden or any other 
Town in the County. For although we have most sensibly felt 
the injury resulting to us from the partial dismemberment of this 
small but once united & flourishing Corporation, yet our peace 
has been so incessantly disturbed by new projects of encroach- 
ment, and we have encountered so much trouble and expense in 
opposing these projects that we are now fully pursuaded we shall 
never be at rest ; that our existence as a Corporation will be in 
perpetual jeopardy until this troublesome and offending member 
is totally severed from the body which it thus threatens to destroy. 

For the fourth time the Town of Boylston is now cited before 
the Legislature to answer to tlie petition of Ezra Beaman and 
others. Tlie object of each of these petitions has been most 
essentially to injure if not destroy us as a Corporation. Let Ezra 
Beaman & otliers become a Corporation totally detached from us, 
& whatever may be the evil we will Patiently submit. We trust 
with confidence in the wisdom of the Legislature to discern 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 105 

the object of the present petition, & we trust with equal confi- 
dence that they will be influenced by a desire of justice t% a regard 
to the essential interests of a small but peaceable community, to 
refuse an act of incorporation annexing the proposed District to 
the Town of Boylston against the earnest wishes and settled op- 
position of every Individual who feels a solicitude to preserve 
our existence as a Corporation. 

Boylston May 27 1807 JAMES LONGLEY ) Agents for 

ROBERT ANDREWS } the town of 
AARON WHITE ) Boylston. 

A remonstrance against annexation signed by Jonas Temple 
and sixty-one others was also presented to the Legislature, the 
principal argument being that it would affect the privileges of 
representation. Sometime afterwards agents of the town of 
Boylston and of the precinct in Boylston, Holden and Sterling, 
met and signed articles of agreement, Article 1st of which was 
as follows : " It is agreed that the Precinct sliall be incorporated 
into a town." 



ANCIENT DOCUMENTS. 

We are indebted to Mr. George Sumner, of Barnard, Sum 
ner & Co., Worcester, who has icindly loaned the original papers 
from which we copy the following items. It may be of interest 
to the present generation to know how our ancestors conducted 
their church councils, and what they had for refreshments. The 
first item refers to a bill which was contracted with Ezra Bea- 
man for entertaining a church council which convened to settle a 
minister, and lasted seven days, beginning Jan. 25th, 1768, and 
closing Feb. 2nd, 1768. We give the bill of items for the first 
day's entertainment. The total amount for the seven days foots 
up .£13-12-10-3. 

It appears by the subjoined receipts that the bill was not 
paid till several years after. 

December the 30 A d 1767 

Deacon Jonathan-Keyes & Cyprian Keyes Committy for the Sec- 



106 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



ond Church in Shrewsbury to Ezra Beaman Dr to Entertainment 

for part of a Councel that met at my house then. 

To Sundries Delivered then 0-17-8-3 

January 25 A d 1768 

the whole of the Councel then met at my house 

to things Delivered then Viz 



to Brandy 

to one mug flip 

to half a mug westindia flip 

to Brandy & Spirits . 

to 19 Suppers . 

Ceeping 19 Horses one Nite 

to 13 Logings . 

Januar 2G ... 

to Brandy & Spirits . 

to 19 Brexfasts 

to 19 messes of oats . 

to two mug of flip 

one Boal Toddy Spirits & flip 

to 19 Dinners . 

Carried over 



S d 2 
0-6-0 
0-6-0 
0-3-2 
1-3-3 
11-5-0 
12-8-0 
3-5-2 

1-8-0 

11-5-0 

8-10-0 

1-0-0 

1-1-2 

15-2-2 



Shrewsbury march 17 ye 1708 

Then Receid of Decon Jonathan Keyes two pounds two shillings 
In part of the Expence of the Councel which was Due from the 
Church : I Say Receid By me pr EZRA BEAMAN. 

Shrewfbury march the 8th 1771 

Received of Cyprian Keyes one of the Committee of the Second 
Church in Said Shrewfbury the Sum of Two Pounds Ten Shil- 
lings & Eight Pence in part to Pay the Expence of the Councel 
that Conveined at my house in the year 1768. 



L s p 



Pr EZRA BEAMAN. 



2-11-8 



BOYLSTOK CENTENKIAL. 107 

A Return Capt Ezro, Beaman Company in- Shrewsbury the 
Seventh Compt Col. Goldings Rigi Mens Names Ebenezer Keyes 
8 Richard Smith 3 John Ingalsbee 3 Joseph Bixby Dureing Eli 
Keyes Dureing David Bennit 3 Benjamin Hinds 3 John Bixby 3 
under Capt adam wealler & Colonel Nixsons Regiment. 

Abraham Hager 3 Capt Morse. Col Putnam Regiment. 

Matthew wigman During the war David williams 3 years 
Eli Gale 3 years Joel Chase 3 years Capt Gates Colo Biglo 
Regiment. 

Nickles Briard 8 months Israel Keyes 8 months Reubin 
townsend 8 months Asher Hinds 8 months James Parker 8 
months Ditto Ditto 

Jonathan Ginnings In the Lite horse. 

mr James Walker, of woburn, Rum. was 5 gallons 3 Quarts 
& one gil which I receid the 20 Day Nov. 1779 for which I am. 
to give 2 Bushels of Corn, for Each gallon. 11 Bushel one half. 
& two Quarts of Corn. 



Shrewsbury June 6 AD 1777 
A Return of Capt Ezra Beaman Company of the arms & Equip- 
ment 

EZRA BEAMAN Capt 

men Names mens Names 

Robert Andrews Jr Edmond Stiles 

Jonas Goodnow Daniel Whitney Jun 

matthew Deavenport Jonathan Bond 

Oliver Dinsmoor Jonathan Bond Jun 

Ebenezer Ingalesbee Amariah Biglo 

moses Goodale Benjamin Hinds 

Aaron Goodale Jonas Temple 

David Goodale Joseph Bigelo Jun 

Thomas Keyes Ebenezer Ingalesbee 

Stephen Partridg Robert Andrews 

Abel Holt Ephriam Beaman 

John Willington William Winn 

Josiah Cutting Timothy Ross 

Calvin Glazier Ebenezer Morse 



108 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



Simeon Keyes 
Josiah Raiidel 
Abel Biglo 
Daniel Ball 
John Fleharty 
Daniel Andrews 
John Andrews 
John Parker 
Joseph morse Jun 
Jacob Pike 
Caleb Kendall 
John Flagg 
Stephen Flagg 
Stephen Flagg Jr 
Stephen Brigham 
Samuel Andrews 
William Fames 
Jonathan Andrews 
Silas Cutting 
Zaddock Cutting 
Bbenezer Cutting 
David Hastings 
Aaron Temple 
James Holland 
Phillip monroe 
Abel Osgood 
Joseph Inglesbee 
Thomas Andrews 



Joseph Morse 
Cliakim Morse 
Amherst Morse 
Richard Rand 
Job Spafford 
David Andrews 
amos fuler 
Benjamin Keyes 
Abraham Townsend 
Cyprian Keyes Jun 
Benjamin Fisk 
Charles Biglo 
William Crafford 
John Wright 
Oliver Peirce 
Jonathan Gage 
Stephen Hastings 
Joseph Cutting 
Nethanel Bobbins 
micah Briard 
Timothy Temple 
Barzealli Bennit 
Daniel Tombe 
John Bennit 
Jonas Richardson 
Timothy Whitney 
Joshua Townsend 
Jotham Bush Juner 



REV. EBENEZER MORSE. 



The following inscription was copied from the stone which 
marks the resting-place of the first minister settled in Boylston, 
at that time (1743) the " North Parish of Shrewsbury." 

" Beneath this stone rests the remains of Rev. Ebenezer 
Morse, A.M., who upwards of fifty years exercised the functions 
of a christian minister in this place. Endowed by the Father of 
Lights with a strong and capacious mind, he richly stored it by 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 109 

seeking and intermedling with all wisdom. As a Divine he was 
learned ; as a physician, eminent ; as a philosopher, deep, exten- 
sive and correct in his views. As a politician of piercing incite, 
of individual character, shrewd in reply, able in controversy, 
abounding with narrative, the portion of helpless merit, and ful- 
filling with exactness the duties of husband, teacher and friend, 
he died, Jan. 3rd, 1802. Aeg. 84 yrs." 

This stone also preserves the memory of Mrs. Percis Morse, 
the amiable and virtuous consort of the Rev. E. Morse. She 
died May 6th, 1786, aged 61 years, having been united in mar- 
riage thirty-three years. From this union sprang eleven children. 

The Rev. Ebenezer Morse, who served as minister, doctor 
and lawyer, and whose relations with the parish were very har- 
monious up to the Revolution, espoused the cause of the 
Royal government and became a tory. On pages 273-274 His- 
tory of Worcester County, under the head of Shrewsbury, we find 
the following: May 2d, 1774, the town voted, " that Phineas 
fleywood, Isaac Temple, Edward Flint, Ross Wyman, and Isaac 
Harrington be a committee to examine the Rev. Ebenezer Morse 
and others suspected of toryism." Mr. Morse was found guilty, 
and it was voted " that the committee of correspondence forth- 
with take from said Morse his arms, ammunition and warlike 
implements of all kinds, to remain in said committee's hands for 
the present ; and that the said Morse do not pass over the lines 
of the 2nd parish in Shrewsbury, on any occasion whatever, with- 
out a permit from two or more of the committee of said precinct." 

FIRST BURIAL. 

Epitaph found inscribed on the headstone of the first grave 
in the old cemetery : 

" Here lies ye body of Garner Maynard, son of Mr. Elisha 
and Mrs. Huldah Maynard, who died Apr. ye 14th 1745, aeg. 11 
months and 11 days." 

And on the foot-stone : 

" This is ye first body that in this burying ground doth lie." 



no 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



BOYLSTON'S ROLL OF HONOR IN THE WAR OF THE 

REBELLION. 

Ferdinand Andrews, 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. 

William A. Andrews, 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co .D. 

Samuel E. Andrews, 53d Regiment Infantry, 9 months, Co, K. 

George H. Andrews, 53d Regiment, Infantry, 9 months, Co. K. 

George W. Brewer, Corporal 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. Re- 
enlisted. Killed at Cold Harbor, Va. 

Walter A. Brigham, 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. 

Alonzo H. Bigelow, 34lh Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

Augustus Brigham, Corporal, 21st Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. E. 

Henry F. Brigham, 21st Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. E. 

Henry C. Brewer, 5th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. E. 

George Bennett, 5th Regiment Infantry, , Co. E. 

Asa A. Bennett, 5th Regiment Infantry, , Co. E. 

Edward A. Estabrook, 51st Regiment Infantry, 9 months. 

John M. Forbes, Sergeant, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. Died 
Salisbury, N. C, 

Benjamin C. Fawcett, 21st Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. E, Re- 
enlisted. 

Webster M. Flagg, 53d Regiment Infantry, 9 months, Co. K. 

J. Henry Flagg, 4th Cavalry and 5th Infantry. 

Elliott Flagg, 4th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. I. Killed at the battle 
of Antietam, Md. 

Augustus Flagg, 15th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. B. 

Charles H. Glazier, 21st Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. E. 

William J. Howe, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years. Co. C. 

Henry J. Hyde, 3d Regiment, Co. D. 

Charles Hooper, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

J. Emerson Holbrook, 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. 

Francis M. Harrington, 53d Regiment Infantry, 9 months, Co.K. Reenlisted 
57th Regiment, Co. K. 

Elmer B. Howe, 15th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

Albert S. Hastings, 21st Regiment Infantry. 3 years, Co. E. Reenlisted- 
Died in Camp Nelson, Ky. 

Theodore Hazard, 54th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. 

Henry Hazard, 54th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. 

Flavel Leach, Jr., 15th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. B. 

Henry J. Locke, 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. Reenlisted. 

Alfred G. Larkin, Sergeant, 4th Cavalry, Co. C. 

Gilbert F. Miller, 53d Regiment Infantry, 9 months, Co. B. 

Jonathan A. Morey, 34th Regiment, Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

Patrick Neyiand, 15th Regiment, Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

Benjamin W. Parker, 13ih Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. I. 

John W. Partridge, 25th Regiment Infantry. 3 years, Co. D, Transferred 
to Signal Corps. 

James E. Preutlce, S4th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. Ill 

Johu R. Roberts, 2d Regiment, Infantry, 3 years. Co. K. Killed at Cedar 
Mountain, Va. 

James E. Taylor, 25th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. D. Reenlisted. 

John Tucker, Corporal, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

Watson Wilson. 3t}th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. I. Died of wounds 
at Washington, D. C. 

Joseph M. Wright, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years. Co. C. 

James M. Wilson, Corporal, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. C. 

John W. Warren, 21st Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. E. 

Henry White; Sergeant, 21st Regiment Infantry, 3 years. Co. E. Reenlisted. 

Thomas B. Warren, 34th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. F. Transferred 
to V. R. C. 

William H. Whipple, 57th Regiment Infantry, 3 years, Co. K. 

Alanson Warner, 4th Regiment Heavy Artillery, 1 year, Co. D. 

James H. Wilson, 21st Regiment Infantry, , Co. L. 



THE BUSH FAMILY. 

[At the after-dinner exercises, the toast, " The Bush 
Family," was responded to by Dr. William Frederic Hol- 
combe, of New York, (a son of Lucy Bush and Deacon August 
tine Holcombe, of Sterling). Dr. Holcombe said: "It seems to 
me more appropriate that Charles Henry Bush from Boston, son 
of John Wm. Bush, should reply, and I forbear until he appears 
for his ancestors." Mr. Bush standing on a chair, bowed to the 
audience which greeted him heartily ; he said : " I am very much 
pleased to be present in this home of my forefathers, but i must 
be excused from making any remarks, as I am not accustomed to 
public speaking, being generally occupied with mercantile affairs, 
besides I am unacquainted here, and know little about the Bush 
family in Boylston." An old gentleman near by said : " Go on, 
we knew your father well and he was beloved by us all." Mr. 
Bush in concluding said : " I shall feci thankful to my cousin. 
Dr. Holcombe, if he will proceed with his remarks because 
he as fully as myself represents the Bush family, and can speak 
for it."] 

Dr. Holcombe then said : " I now exhibit a representation of 
the residence of Col. Jotham Bush ; it was built in 1796, and des- 
troyed by fire Oct. 20, 1859. I have surrounded it by thirty-six 



112 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

portraits of the Bush family, decendants of Col. Bush and Mary- 
Taylor, and of his brother John Bush and Charity Piatt. 

I cannot now speak of the personal qualities of the Bush 
family, of Boylston, as my time is limited. You will remem- 
ber that " Good wine needs no Bush." I will reverse this and 
say, that a good Bush needs no wine. Though I see in your 
" Boylston Centennial " of to-day, that in 1768 during a church 
council held for seven days in " ye North Parish of Shrewsbury " 
the clergy required plenty of good " spirits," while convened at 
the well-known inn of Ezra Beaman. 

The name of Bush is probably derived like many others from 
location of residence. The ancient Bush people very likely lived 
"in the Bush," as they now say in England, meaning in the 
wood or forest. Like Adam and Eve, they dwelt in " the groves " 
which were " God's first temples." 

The Bush family had no more royal, ancient residence, and 
they have always been admirers of nature. 

In Drake's and in Hotten's New England Emigrants, it is 
recorded that John Bush, aged 22, arrived in 1634, in ship 'Alex- 
ander" from London, and settled in Watertown, Mass., and died 
in Cambridge, Nov. 1, 1662. By wife Elizabeth, he had five 
children ; among them Abiah (or Abial) born March 2, 1661, 
who went to Marlborough in 1690. (See Hudson's Marlborough 
and Ward's Shrewsbury.) He married June 27, 1688, Grace 
Barrett ; among their seven children was John, born July 18, 
1699, married, April 24, 1723, Martha, daughter of Isaac Tem- 
ple and Martha Joslin. He moved in 1729 to North Parish of 
Shrewsbury, where he died, July 14,1757 ; his wife died March 
2, 1792, aged 92. His house was east of the road nearly oppo- 
site the old residence of his grandson. Col. Jotham Bush. The 
well can still be seen near the highway. 

John Bush (1st) had five children, viz : 1, John (2nd) ; 
2, Martha ; 8, Persis ; born, May 82, 1727 (married Rev. Eben- 
ezer Morse, M. D., and had eleven children) ; 4, Jotham (1st) ; 
born, May 23, 1729; 5, Martha; born, Jan. 13, 1738 (married 
Cyprian Keycs, Jr., May 27, 1756, had four sons and five 
daughters). 

Jotham (1st) being like his relatives here, a tory or royalist. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 113 

was sent by military authorities, and placed on a vessel in Bos- 
ton Harbor, where he died of sraall-pox in 1778. He married, 
Marcli 24, 17o0, Hcpzibah, daughter of Deacon Cyprian Keyes 
and Hcpzibah Howe ; (She married 2nd in 1779, Edward Ray- 
mond, Esq., of Sterling). Jotham Bush (1st) had six sons and 
four daughters ; of these Jotham (2nd) was known in Boylston 
as " Col. Jotham," for service in local militia. He was a farmer, 
merchant, inn-keeper and carried on business opposite and north 
of the old cemetery, in the house now owned by J. G. Warner, it 
was built by David Taylor, an uncle of Mrs. Bush. On retiring 
from business to the other farm, he sold his house to Aaron White, 
Esq.Colonel Bush was born April 8, 1757 ; died, Dec. 13, 1837 ; 
he'married June 8, 1781, Mary, daughter of John Taylor, Jr., and 
Jemima Holloway, granddaughter of John Taylor, and great 
grand-daughter of Eleazer Taylor, Sr., and Lydia Barrett, of 
Marlborough, but a first settler in North Parish, Shrewsbury. 
The ol)ituaries of Col. Bush and wife can be seen in Worcester 
Sptj of Nov. 17, 1836, and Dec. 13, 1837 respectively. 

They had ten children : 

(1.) Mary, born June 15, 1782 ; died, Sept. 24, 1867 ; 
married Major Elijah Brigham, of Westboro ; had Mary Sophia 
and Theodore Frederick. 

(2.") Jemima Holloway, born Sept. 15, 1784 ; married 
Thomas Bond, Esq., of West Brookfield, and died July 20, 
1866, at Springfield : had Henry Morris, Lucy Ann, Clarinda, 
Thomas, Wm. Bush, George Taylor, Mary Bush, Ephraim Ward, 
Edward Newton. 

(3.) John, born Dec. 2, 1786 ; died April 14, 1788. 

(4.) Clarinda, born Aug. 4, 1790 : married Rev. Alex 
Lovell, a native of West Boylston ; had Mary Bush and Thomas 
Alexander ; died Feb. 20, 1878, at Waltham. 

(5.) Harriet, born Jan. 5, 1793, died Sept. 8, 1794. 

(6.) Lucy, born March 30. 1794, married June 1, 1825, 
Dea. Augustine Holcombe, of Sterling, Mass.; married second, 
Rev. Bancroft Fowler ; died Oct. 3, 1854, at Stockbridge, Mass. 
Of five children two lived to adult age ; Susan Huntington 
died), Dr. William Frederic Holcombe, of New York city. 



114 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

(7.) Harriet, born May 23, 1796, married Col. Oliver Saw- 
yer, Jr.. of Boylston, died Sept. 9, 1872, at Brooklyn, N. Y. 
One daughter, Harriet, married Thomas White, Esq.; they have 
Salome Elizabeth. (2). Alfred Sawyer died in Sterling, aged 
53, leaving a daughter Harriet, (now the wife of Mr. Mears); 
has one daughter. 

(«.) Martha, born Feb. 10, 1798, is now living, aged 88, 
in Brooklyn, N. Y. She was married June 4, 1823, by Rev. 
Ward Cotton, to Rev. Baxter Dickinson, native of Amherst, 
settled then in Longmeadow, Mass.; he died, 1875, aged 80, in 
Brooklyn, N. Y.; had Richard Storrs, William Cowper, Martha, 
Mary, Harriet, Isabella. 

Rev. Richard Storrs Dickinson was associate pastor of Rev. 
Dr Barnes, of Philadelphia, and died while on a visit to Eu- 
rope in Edinburgli. 

Rev. William Cowper Dickinson, pastor of College Hill 
Presbyterian Church, near Cincinnati, has sons and daughters. 

(9.) Jotliam 3d (called Deacon Jotham), bom Sept. 30, 
1800, died here July 30, 1880, married Hannah Fisher; chil- 
dren, Augustine Holcombe (dead), and Mary Dickinson. 

(10.) John William, born May 5, 1803, died in Spring- 
field, Mass., 1843; children, William Delano, Charles Henry, 
(in Boston), Martha Dickinson, (now Mrs. Dr. Francis Wil- 
lard, of Dorchester, Mass.; has Harry). 

Concerning John Bush, 2d, he was born July 4, 1755. He 
was a royalist during the Revolutionary war and made much 
money as an Exchange Broker, and had a tavern and restaurant on 
Pearl Street, New York. He moved to Worcester in 1800 to the 
Chandler Mansion on (Main Street, opp. the Old South Church), 
which was sold at his death, in 1816, to Ira M. Barton, Esq. 
John Bush had by his first wife. Charity Piatt, Cornelia, Richard 
Piatt, Jonas, who was a Doctor. He had Caroline and George, 
now in California. 

Cornelia married Elnathan Pratt, of Worcester, and had 
five children, one, Jotham Bush Pratt, living in Worcester. 

Richard Phitt Bush had William Henry, John, James Feltz, 
Richard, Charles Craft, Charles. 

John had by Sarah Ann Wheeler one son. John died in 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 115 

1845, on his way from New Orleans, leaving Allen Carnes Bush, 
now of St. Louis, Mo., he has two daughters' and one son. Por- 
traits are shown of five generations of this branch. 

Levi, a son of Jotliara Bush, 1st, was born Marcli 20, 1763, 
married Nov. 23, 1784, Martha Ball ; had eiglit children, one, 
Dr. John Bush, born July 3, 1792, grad-uatcd at Bowdoin Col- 
lege, Maine, in 1814, was widely known for his learning. He 
died Feb. 29, 1876, at Vasalboro, Me. During a vacation, in 
1812, passed with his uncle, Col. Jothani Bush, he arranged and 
penned the very ornamental Gcneological Chart of the Bush, 
Keyes and Taylor families, which I now, by kindness of the 
owner, Mrs. Martha Bush Dickinson, present for your inspection. 

Martha, daughter of Levi Bush, was born Aug. 19, 1787, 
died May 2, 1854, married Prof. Parker Cleveland, M. D. 
L L. D., of Bowdoin College. They left a large family : Jotham, 
a son of Levi, died at Newton Corners, without issue, about 1875. 
Levi 2d, born Aug. 31. 1797, died in Wostficld, Mass., about 
1878, leaving, by two wives, a large family of daughters. I shall 
soon publish a history of the Bush family giving the female lines, 
especially of Fitch, i^mith, Roljbins, of Sterling, and of others, the 
daughters of Levi Bush. 

Of the family of Col. Jotham Busli. Martha, aged nearly 89, 
alone remains. She is in excellent health, in full possession of 
her mental powers, and ever commands the respect, love and 
veneration of all. 

In a recent interview with her concerning the people and 
old times in Boylston, she kindly, without any reference to any 
manuscript, recited to me an Acrostic composed for her by a 
Boylston friend about 1818. It so completely portrays her ex- 
cellent qualities that 1 feel certain her old Boylston friends will 
enjoy hearing it. 

ACROSTIC TO BIARTHA BUSH. 

Miglit I invoke great Milton's muse 
And Homer's pen witli freedona use, 
Rich witli these gifts, my pen I'd lend 
To paint tlie virtues of my friend. 
Hers are those graces that impart 
A thrilling charm to every heart. 



116 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

Beauteous in form, in feature fair, 
Unknown to pride or selfish care, 
Sincere in heart, of temper mild, 
Heaven owns her a favorite child. 

Few of the name of Bash remain in this region, though in 
the female line, the descent. is numerous. It is unnecessary to 
speak at length of the virtues and excellent qualities of Col. Jo- 
tham Bush and Mary Taylor. Your town records furnish in- 
formation concerning what he did for Boylston. Your church 
records state what they and what their son, Deacon Jotham 
Bush, did for this parish. Let the descendants of the Bush 
family endeavor to be worthy of their ancestry. 



THE BIGELOW FAMILY. 

[In answer to an invitation from the General Committee to 
Mrs. N. J. Bigelow, wife of the late Andrew Bigolow, D. D., and 
daughter of the late Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, to send 
them some facts relating to the life of Rev. Dr. Bigelow, the fol- 
lowing communication has been received :] 

The Centennial address by Henry M. Smith, Esq., informs 
us " that among the first settlers in Shrewsbury who took up 
allotments in what is now Boylston were the Bigelos," which 
familiar name has been identified with its history up to the 
present time. 

We find in the " Return of Capt. Ezra Bcaman's Company, 
June 6, 1777," Abel and Charles Biglo, with Joseph Bigelo, 
Jun. ; also that Capt. Joseph Bigelo was chosen treasurer at the 
first meeting, March 13, 1786, after the incorporation of the 
town." 

Near the entrance of the old cemetery at the left are nine 
grave-stones bearing this name, varying in tlie last syllable, 
Big low and Big-c-low, three of which are in memory of the 
father, grandfather and great grandfather of families in our 
community to-day. 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 117 

Capt. Joseph Biglow, died Jan. 2-4, 1783, 81 years of age. 
His wife, Martha D., died Oct. 15, 1782, 70 years of age. 

Their son, Charles Bigclow, died Nov. 20, 1782, aged 52 
years. His widow moved to Sudbury and married Smith. 

Andrew Bigelow died Sept. 11, 1831, aged 71 years. 

Andrew, son of Cliarles and second of nine children, when 
sixteen years of age, enlisted in 1780 for the remainder of the 
war. These last •" three years men " were subjected to great 
liardships, and by the depreciation of the " Continental Cur- 
rency " received the least compensation for their services. His 
children remember his recital of the sufferings of the soldiers 
during one winter in the woods of Pennsylvania, from want of 
shoes, through inability of the government to provide better for 
her troops. 

In 1785 he married Sarah, "daughter of Jonathan Fassett, of 
Boylston. Children: AUethusa; Clerimond; Lucy, died in child- 
hood; Jonathan; Solomon; Asahel; Mary; John, died in child- 
hood; William Pitt only survives, born April 10th, 1801, resides 
with his son, Henry W. Bigelow, in Newtonville. Sarah, wife of 
Andrew Bigelow, died Jan. 25, 1806, aged 41 years. 

Second wife, Mrs. Lydia Whitiiey. Children : Francis W. 
W., deceased ; Andrew, Jr., deceased ; James ; John T. E. ; 
Sarah F ; Lydia L., deceased. 

Mrs. Lydia W. Bigelow died Jan. 10, 1862, aged 83 years 
and 4 months. 

For years after the war only, widows who were the first 
wives of Revolutionary soldiers drew pensions, but through the 
influence of Rev. Andrew Bigelow, and the Hon. Horace Mann, 
when in Congress, the bill was so amended that all widows 
received a pension. Mrs. Bigelow drew $100 yearly. 

This father of fifteen children, whose motto was, •' Find out 
what is right, stick to it and go ahead," not only from necessity 
but from principle, brought up these sons and daughter? in hab- 
its of strict obedience and close industry. A great reader, full 
of anecdote, and of a retentive memory, the home influences from 
the parents favored all the means of education the town then 
afforded. The supervision and deep interest of their pastor, Rev. 
Dr. Cotton, in school instruction, with his friendly approval and 



118 BOTLSTOX CENTENNIAL. 

words of encouragement " in finding so many Bigelows at the 
head of classes," were never forgotten by this family. These 
early surroundings fostering the elements of success in each 
character, led three of these boys to start out in life for them- 
selves, with a fixed purpose to employ head, heart and hands, in 
laying a foundation for future happiness, respectability, and use- 
fulness in the world. 

Rev. Jonathan Bigelow left home to learn a trade, but as he 
became interested in religion, he studied for college and gradu- 
ated at Yale, and was pastor of the Center Church in Rochester, 
Mass., from May 10, 1827 to 1819. After service in Ohio, he 
died in 1855, sixty-two years of age, and was buried in Collamer, 
his church erecting a monument to his memory. Married " Eliza 
Tappan, a lady eminently qualified amid rare facilities for edu- 
cation, and of deep piety, for the duties of a pastor's wife. Her 
numerous contributions to the New York Observer and published 
works show the pen of a ready writer." 

Rev. Asahel Bigelow left home when twenty years of age, 
his father giving him his time, and in the fall of 1817 walked to 
Andover, forty-five miles, and entered the Academy — " went 
through the Latin grammar in a fortnight," — graduated from 
Harvard College in the Class of 1823, and Andover Theological 
Seminary in ; was ordained pastor of the Orthodox Congre- 
gational Church in Walpolc, Mass., March 28, 1828, his brother 
Rev. Jonathan, preaching the sermon. In 1850 he settled in 
Hancock, N. H., and after this pastorate of twenty-five years, and 
a ministry of forty-nine years, he retired from active labor and 
passed away in Hancock Aug. 16, 1877. 

We quote from another : " Mr. Bigelow was pre-eminently 
a Bible preacher — a man of deep piety and earnest prayer, a dili- 
gent student of lively and cheerful disposition, he was everywhere 
beloved." His widow, Mrs. Dorcas P. Bigelow, daughter of 
Hon. Henry Homes, of Boston, resides with her daughter, Mrs. 
Tuttle, in Hancock, N. H. Her only child, Charles Tuttle, grad- 
uated from Bowdoin College, Maine, and is at present a student 
in Germany. 

Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., was the second son of the sec- 
ond marriage. The years of his minority were chiefly spent in 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 119 

mechanical pursuits with his father, but with an irrepressible 
desire to prepare himself for the Cliristian ministry he bought 
two years' time of his father, studied at Amlierst Academy, under 
the care of Rev. Mr. Colton, and in less tlian a year entered Am- 
herst College in 1834. With that invincible determination and 
energy so characteristic of liim through life, contending with 
physical infirmity, often studying on his bed, he graduated in 
the Class of 18:J8. 

Resuming teaching, and while Principal of Rochester Acad- 
emy, Mass., two and a lialf years, lie read theology with his 
brother, Rev. Jonathan Bigelow and Dv. Thomas Robl>ins ; was 
licensed by tlie Old Colony Association, and ordained pastor of 
the church in South Dartmouth 1841, Rev. Asahel BigeUjw 
preaching the sermon. After pastorates in the towns of West 
Needham, Westhampton (only a year in consequeuce of an injury 
by accident), and Medfield eleven years, he was invited to supply 
the pulpit in his native town, and commenced labor in the fall of 
1866. The uniform courtesy and kindness extended to himself 
and wife, in so many different forms, for nearly seven years, 
rendered the relation between pastor and people one of peculiar 
interest ; with heart and hand i>oth united in labors for the wel- 
fare of Zion ; the interior of the Church was repaired and im- 
proved by the addition of a fine organ. His love for the young 
with his untiring efforts for the highest success in the schools of 
his parish, are still remembered ; and when declining years ob- 
liged him to relinquish the Master's work he so much loved, and 
seek a home in a neighboring town, tlie same happy intercouj'se 
continued. 

In tlie words of another : " The pulpit and parish labors of 
Dr. Bigelow have been characterized by soundness of theology, 
spiritualit}' of discourse, boldness in proclaiming what he thought 
to be truth, sociability of intercourse, and success in the winning 
of souls. He had much of the missionary spirit, and seemed to 
delight in serving the weaker churches. His worth as an educa- 
tional director (himself a teacher of rare ability), has insepara- 
bly connected his name with the cause of universal and scholarly 
education." 

He passed away, in Southboro, Sept. 23, 1882, leaving a 



120 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

widow, the daughter of Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston ; his first 
wife, Emily Louisa, daughter of Hon, William Bladder, of Mar- 
blehead, died in Medfield July 4, 1857. Their two children died 
in infancy. Rev. Andrew Bigelow was aged 72 years 9 months 
when he deceased. 

Families in town : 

First. — James Bigelow, resides with his second son, James 
A. His third son, William S. (M. D.), graduated from the New 
York Homoeopathic Medical College March 18, 1881, is practis- 
ing in Philipsburg, Penn., married a niece of Mrs. John B. 
Gough. 

Second. — John T. E. Bigelow (and wife), named for his 
maternal and paternal ancestors, John Bigelow, Thomas and his 
son Elias iSawyer, who were carried captives to Canada in 1705 : 
the two elder, by building a saw-mill secured their freedom. 
Elias remained to run it a year, and during this time he won the 
heart of the Governor's daughter, pledging his return after a visit 
to his parents ; but as they objected to the match, tradition says, 
'• Batrix Pope sat many a long and tedious year waiting her 
lover's return, until worn out with watching she passed over 
Jordan to seek for him in the promised land." 

Third. — Mrs. iSarah F., wife of Newel Parker. 

The mother of Miss Dorothea Dix, the philanthropist, was 
sister to Andrew Bigelow, Senior. 



THE KENDALL FAMILY. 

Though the Kendalls have never been very numerous in 
Boylston, there was one family that moved into the town soon 
after its incorporation. They came from Ashburnham in 1792. 

" Francis Kendall, who was the ancestor of most of the 
Kendalls of Massachusetts, and indeed of New England, came 
from England, and settled in Woburn, as early as somewhere 
from 1636 to 1610, and was made freeman in 1647." 

" He married Dec. 24, 1644, Mary Tidd, of that town, and 



BOYLSTON CENTENKIAL. 121 

had John, born 1646, Thomas, born 1648, Samuel, born May 8, 
1659, besides several daughters." 

This son Samuel married Rebekah , and their son 

Samuel, born Aug. 13, 1684, married Prudence , whose 

son Samuel, born 1711, married Phoebe Brintain Sept. 23, 1736. 

The following children of Samuel and Phoebe Kendall, were 
baptized, in Sterling, by Rev. Mr. Mellen: 

Samuel, baptized February 17, 1745. 

Rebecca, " " " •' 

Abigail, " July 20, 1746. 

Caleb, " May 15, 1748. 

Bartholomew, baptized February 18, 1749. 

Caleb, baptized March 24, 1750. ■• 

Bartholomew, baptized February 28, 1753. 

William, l)aptized October 13, 1754. 

Phoebe, " July 3, 1757. 

Lucy, " February 10, 1760. 

Lucinda, " November 14, 1762. 

Caleb married 1st, Priscilla Savory, and four children were 
born to them : Priscilla, Zipora, Caleb, and Joshua, who was a 
veritable giant in his day, whom no single man would care to 
meet in any contest, yet his kindly nature, and amiable disposi- 
tion, made him a choice companion among his associates. Caleb 
married 2d, Mrs. Lucy Kendall widow of Thomas Kendall 
(maiden name Lucy Baldwin), April 15, 1788, and these are the 
children from this union : 

Lucy, who married Joseph Sawyer. 
David, born March 12, 1791. 
Samuel, born October, 1792. 
Hannah, who married Phineas Moore. 
Elmira, who married Jotham Howe. 
Emily, who married James Hastings. 
William, who married Susan Hartshorn. 

Caleb, Jr , married Dolly Sawyer, June 24, 1803, and re- 
sided in Boylston several years on the place now occupied by J. 



122 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

D. Flagg. There were born here Abigail, who married Moses 
Dodd ; Caleb, born May, 1807, who was laid at rest Saturday, Jan- 
uary 1, 1887 ; after the family moved to Holden there were 
born the following : 

Dolly, who married Wheeler, of Concord. 

James, now living in Alabama. 

Lucy, who married Snell. 

Edward, now in Cambridge. 
Eliza, died in early womanhood. 
Mary, died in Boston, 1884. 

Joshua married Patty Sawyer, and resided in the house now 
owned by Mr. Lynch, where he died in 1813, leaving two chil- 
dren — Charles, who married Mary Andrews, and Oliver S. who 
married Minday Lamson, and lived on the Oliver Sawyer farm, 
where he died in July, 1881, leaving three sons, Nathaniel Ever- 
ett, who married Mary Kcyes, daughter of Deacon Keyes, of Ster- 
ling ; and Oliver who married Hattie Moore, 1871, and now 
resides in Worcester. 

David married Polly Wellington, April 2, 1812. He re- 
sided in Boylston most of his life. There was one peculiarity in 
his make-up, and that was that to him manual labor seemed 
more like pastime than a task. To him were born ten children : 

Elizabeth, born March 19, 1814, married September 8, 1844, 
Rev. A Stowell. 

Sanford M., born March 6, 1816. 

Horace, born June 21, 1821, died April 27, 1827. 

Mary, born July 18, 1823, died August 13, 1824. 

Mary, born July 9, 1825, married Fisk B. Temple March 
8, 1848. 

Horace, born August 28, 1827. 

John, born November 6, 1829. 

Lyman P., born February 9, 1832. 

Sophia Brooks, born April 27, 1834, died May 9, 1834. 

Olive S., born May 4, 1836, died August 11, 1839. 

Samuel married Abigail Hastings, always lived in Boylston, 
and died in 1884. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 123 

Persis, born April — , 1816, married James Andrews. 

Horace married April 4, 18-14, Sarah Maynard, of Boylston, 
as his first wife ; married second, Fanny Buck, of Worcester, 
January 1, 1874, who died August 22, 1881. 

His children : 

Charles D., born November 10, 1854, married Kate Lindsey, 
of Grafton. 

Sanford C, born October 6, 1856, married Jennie Bruce 
December 24, 1377. 

Frederick H., born January 20, 1875. 

John married August 10,1852, Mary T. Knight, of Wor- 
cester. His children : 

Olive C, born July 16, 1855. 
John M., born March 5, 1866. 

Lyman married June 19, 185'J, Eliza L Moore, of Boylston, 
who died April 24, 1876. They lived in Boylston always, with 
the exception of two or three years in Worcester, To them 
were born : 

Emma A., born December 4, 1859, died June 17, 1881. 
Lizzie M., born November 30, 1862, married January 1, 
1887, William N. Davenport, of MarlI)oro. 

Willie, born August 9, 1867, died July 4, 1870. 

Celia, born June 28, 1871. 

Ella E., born April 14. 1875, died May 10, 1876. 



THE LONGLEY FAMILY. 

James Longley, the first of the name in Boylston, was a son 
of William and Mary (Parker) Longley, and was born in Shirley, 
November 4, 1753. His family was of Euglish origin and of res- 
pectable, and even high standing in church and state ; several 
were ministers of the established church, and one Thomas Long- 



124 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

ley, supposed to be of the same family, rose to be Bishop of Dur- 
ham, Cardinal and Lord Chancellor of England. 

William (or as some claim Richard) Longley came to New 
England soon after the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay 
Colony ; married Joanna Goffe, a sister of Thomas Goffe, Deputy 
Governor of the Colony ; settled at Lynn where he was admitted 
as a freeman March 1-1, 1638. His son William Longley, settled 
in Groton, at or very soon after the first settlement of the place, 
and was one of the most extensive landed proprietors there ; upon 
his death, his estates came into the possession of his son, William 
Longley, who resided there until his death in 1G94, when he and 
his family became the victims of Lidian depredations, and all 
were Slain but three children, who were carried into captivity. 
Of these children one died of starvation ; another was sold to 
the French in Canada, where she finally embraced the Catholic 
religion, and entered a convent at Montreal ; the third, a son 
named John remained with the Indians, gradually adopting their 
manners and customs, until ransomed by Government wlien he 
very reluctantly returned to civilized life, and became an honored 
and useful citizen. Three of his sons, William, John and Jonas 
removed from Groton to what is now Shirley, about two years 
before the incorporation of that place ; the distance from their 
former home was only about eight miles in a direct course, and 
yet, since they had to turn aside for impassable streams and slow- 
ly wend their way through the then wilderness, three days were 
necessary to complete the journey. The life of this William 
Longley seems to have been that of a quiet New England farmer, 
uneventful and even in its tenor, varied only by those hardships 
and privations which were the common lot of every New England 
pioneer, lie lived to witness the struggle of the Colonies against 
British aggression, and the final consummation of their indepen- 
dence, in which struggle several of his descendants bore an hon- 
orable part. 

James Longley the son, and principal subject of this sketch, 
on account of the large lamily of his father, was forced in early 
boyhood to seek a home elsewhere, and finally went to North- 
borough where after the custom of the time, he was apprenticed 
to Samuel Gaml)le, a carpenter, to remain in his service until he 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 125 

should have arrived at the full age of twenty-one years. Under 
this master he received harsh and severe treatment. He was in- 
efficiently and coarsely clad, and was kept at his work during the 
whole period of his indenture, without obtaining a single day's 
schooling. His treatment was such as would not be tolerated at 
the present time. He, however, patiently endured his ever- accu- 
mulating burdens until tlie term of his apprenticeship was com- 
pleted. On obtaining his freedom he entered the employ of a 
hotel proprietor in Northborough; at this time he began to realize 
the importance of acquiring an education sufficient to enable 
him to transact ordinaiy business ; he obtained a teacher and 
began to study ; commencing with the alphabet he continued by 
patient effort until lie had learned to read, write and solve the 
problems of common arithmetic. With this beginning he sought 
to qualify himself for the duties of life, and thus became a life- 
long student after knowledge. 

During the Revolution he became imbued with love for the 
independence of his country, and entered the service of the 
Colonies, both in the land and sea forces raised for their protec- 
tion. He was at first in the marine or privateering service, under 
Commodore Moody, and Avas in several successful cruises. He 
then joined the land forces and served in that dangerous affair 
on Long Island under General Sullivan, when the British troops 
under General Howe, undertook successfully to force the Ameri- 
cans from the Island, and later was at the battle of Saratoga 
which witnessed the capture of General Burgoyne. Soon after 
the close of the Revolution he married Molly Bartlett, of North- 
borough, and settled upon a large farm near Rocky Pond, in the 
easterly part of Boylston. His farm was large in extent, con- 
taining nearly three hundred acres, naturally rough and broken, 
and hard of cultivation. On it he erected large and commodious 
buildings, and by hard and patient labor brought it to a good 
state of cultivation. He was one of the first of the farmers in 
Boylston to plant orchards, and to introduce improved fall and 
winter fruit. On this farm he spent the remainder of his days, 
and here he reared a large family of children, nearly all of whom 
reached years of maturity. The quiet of his life as a New 
England farmer was broken from time to time by calls from his 



126 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

fellow-citizens, to assume important and responsible positions. 
He was in Shays's Rebellion in 1787, and participated in the 
night march from Hadley to Petersham, tlirough a blinding 
snow storm, as the following quaint receipt shows : 

Boijhton, May 10, 1787. 
Then Received of Ezra Beaman all the wages that is due 
to us the subscribers for services while we ware in Capt. Jonah 
Howe's Company in Sirpi'essing the late Rebellion in the west^- 
ward Countyis, 

JAMES LONGLEY JOHN HASTINGS Jr. ROBERT HUDSON 

JOHN ANDERSON SAMUEL UARTHAN AMARIAH SAWYER 

JONAS GOODNUFF SAMUEL WHITCOMB WILLIAM SAWYER 
JOTHANGOODNUFF STEPHEN BIGLO JOSEPH BIGLOW Jr 

LEVI MOORES JASON GLAZIER ALMA GOODNUFF 

DAVID RICE 

He afterwards served for many years in the State Militia, 
and for some time held the office of captain. He was frequently 
elected to town office. He served upon the Board of Selectmen 
for eighteen years, and was chairman of the board thirteen years ; 
was one of the Assessors for seventeen years and chairman of 
the board twelve years ; town Treasurer in 1821 ; member of the 
School Committee in 1803 ; he also served as Moderator of town 
meetings for many years. He was elected as representative to 
the General Court for thirteen consecutive years, from 1798 to 
1811, and was also the first Justice of the Peace commissioned 
within the present limits of the town, and was frequently called 
to preside over petty trials, solemnize marriage, and transact 
other legal business incident to that office. He was chosen by 
the town of Boylston to oppose the incorporation of the Second 
Precinct of Boylston, Holden and Sterling, and again in 1807 to 
oppose the incorporation of that Precinct as a separate town, and 
was one of the committee to divide the town property between 
the towns of Boylston and West Boylston; and was always deeply 
indentified with whatever tended to increase and develop the best 
interests of the community. He was of a strong and vigorous 
constitution, with an active and capacious mind combined with 
wonderful energy and grexit firmness, decisive in his judgment 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 127 

which was unerring in whatever projects of a public nature he 
entered upon. He died January 15, 1837, aged 83 years. He 
had eleven children : 

I. Otis, his eldest son, married Lydia Patch, and settled on 
the home place with his father. As a man he was much esteemed 
by his fellow townsmen. He was elected as one of the Select- 
men and also served on the Board of Assessors, and was one of 
the Building Committee of the present Congregational Church. 
He died March 21, 1848, aged 63 years. He had six children, 
viz. : 

(1.) Joseph Lyon, who married and settled in the West. 
He now resides in Dows, Wright County, Iowa ; he has four 
children. 

(2.) James Otis, married and settled in Worcester; by trade 
a machinist; he has two children. 

(3.) Cynthia Jane, died April 23, 1859, aged 26 years. 

(4.) John Benjamin, who never of a strong constitution, 
went West and died of Consumption Feb. 4, 1873, aged 37 years. 

(5.) Granville Augustus, who, after his father's death, went 
to live with his uncle Jonas Longley, in Westborough, where he 
remained some six years graduating in the meantime from the 
Westborough High School, and being of a business turn of mind 
he removed to Worcester and entered the employ of Jonathan 
Luther, a clothier, (afterwards C. W. Freeland & Co.), and with 
Horace W. Bigelow formed the firm of Bigelow & Longley. .Mr. 
Bigelow dying in 1886 Mr. Longley now continues the business 
as sole owner, in which they have been successful in building a 
large trade. Mr. Longley has served four years in the Common 
Council, during that time on the Committees on Finance, Educa- 
tion, and Enrollment ; and at the annual city election in Decem- 
ber last was chosen a member of the Board of Aldermen for 
the present year. lie has had five children. 

(6.) Henry G., who, after his father's death, removed to 
Worcester with his mother, and passed his minority in attending 
the public schools there, graduating from which he had just en- 
tered upon a business life when he enlisted in answer to his 
country's call and served in Company G, Fifty-first Kegimeut 



128 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

Massachusetts Volunteers, and during the campaign in North 
Carolina, contracted the Malarial Fever, from which he died in 
the hospital at Newbern, N. C, Feb. 24, 1863, aged 21 years. 
His body was brought back to Worcester and interred with mili- 
tary honors. 

II. Mary, daughter of James and Molly Longley, born Feb. 
18, 1786, married Deacon Abijah Flagg, and settled on the 
farm now in possession of their son, Montraville Flagg. She 
died March 3, 1863, aged 76 years. Children : 

(1.) William Frederick, who went West, married and set- 
tled in Illinois. He has ten children : 

(2.) Montraville, who married Parney P. Houghton, and 
settled on the home place where he now resides ; he has been 
for many years very active in churcli and parish affairs. He has 
had nine children. 

(3.) Nahum, born July 15, 1811, married Hannah B. Nel- 
son, and settled on the home place with his brother Montra- 
ville. He died very suddenly in 1861 ; he left two children. 

(4.) Abijah, who died in infancy. 

(5.) John Dexter, born Aug. 3, 1817, married Elizabeth 
Davenport, daughter of Nathaniel Davenport, Esq. He resides 
in Boylston. He has had six children, five of whom are now 
living. 

(6.) Jifary E., born Sept. 17, 1823, married Edwin Stewart, 
and resides in New York city. Has had five children, two of 
whom are now living. 

III. Jonas, son of James and Molly Longley, born Nov. 11, 
1787, married and settled in Westborough. He was a builder, 
contractor and lumber merchant, and held many important trusts 
to which he was elected by his fellow townsmen. He died Jan. 
31, 1866, aged 78 years. He had four children. 

(1.) James Alfred, born Jan. 6, 1814, was an architect 
and builder, and built the original buildings for the Massachu- 
setts State Reform School at Westborougli, and the present Con- 
gregational Ciuirch edifice at Northborough. He died at South- 
borough March 8, 1861, aged 47 years. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 3 29 

(2.) Susan B., born May 18, 1818, married Ansel Lakin, 
and died June 1, 1877. 

(3.) Mary E., born Dec. lb, 1819, married B. B. Nourse. 

(4.) Charles Otis, born July 20, 1824, resides in West- 
borough 

IV. Rev. Jonathan Longley, son of James and Molly Long- 
ley, born June 21, 1789, entered Harvard College but was forced, 
on account of ill-health, to leave college before completing his 
course. He afterwards studied theology with Rev. Dr. Emmons 
i)i Franklin, and after a brief period spent as Principal of several 
Academics in this State and in New York, was ordained to the 
Christian ministry. 

He was a man of strong mind, sound learning and solid 
worth, combined with great modesty. He had a wonderful mem- 
ory which he had richly stored. His familiarity with Jewish and 
American history was great. The late Rev. George Allen in a 
notice at the time of his death says " his knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures was such that he needed no other concordance than his own 
memory." He died in Northbridge Jan. 26, 1850. 

V. James, born June 22, 1791, and died June 10, 1793. 

VI. Israel, born Nov. 21, 1792, and died June 6, 1793. 

VII. James, born Sept. 3, 1794, married Sally Eustis, and 
settled in Boston, where he died Jan. 13, 1867, aged 72 years. 
After going to Boston Mr. Longley was for a short time engaged 
at the pottery works in East Cambridge, on the site of the present 
manufactory of the New England Glass Company. Afterwards 
he was in a grocery store on Leverett Street. He then went to 
the Commercial Coffee House, then located on the northeast cor- 
ner of Milk and Batterymarch Streets, remaining there as clerk 
and proprietor until 1836, when he retired from active business. 
He served in many positions of trust and honor, was a director in 
several manufacturing corporations and was twice elected as a 
member of the Board of Aldemen of the city of Boston. He gave 
the sura of five hundred dollars to the town of Boylston for the 
purpose of improving and keeping in order the old cemetery. 
He died Jan 13, 1867. He left two children. 



130 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

VI] I. Israel Longley, born Nov. 8, 1795, and died of spot- 
ted fever Nov. 22, 1812, aged 17 years. 

IX. Betsey Longley, born May 22, 1799, married Daniel 
Barnes June 13 1821, and settled on '-Barnes Hill" in Berlin, 
on the place now in possession of her son, George H. Barnes. 
She had thirteen children, ten of whom lived to grow up, and 
nine are now living. 

(1.) Mary Sophia, born June 22, 1822, married Oliver. Car- 
ter, and settled in Berlin near her father's place. She has bad 
four children. 

(2.) Caroline E., born Aug. 16, 1823, married Levi Lin- 
coln Flagg, and settled in Boylston, where she died July 2, 1871, 
aged 49 years. Mr. Flagg has been much employed in town af- 
fairs, and is one of the most influential and respected citizens of 
Boylston. He has served many years as Selectman, Assessor, 
Town Treasurer, &c., and represented the town in the General 
Court. Tliey have had eight children, all of whom are now 
living. 

(3.) Israel L. who married and settled in Boylston where 
he now resides. He has three children. 

(4) Angenette, born Dec. 10, 1826. married Levi E. Brig- 
ham, and resides in Clinton. They have had six children, five 
of whom are now living. 

(5.) Rowena M., born Oct. 21, 1828, married Charles L. 
Whitcomb, who died several years since. Tliey have had six 
children, five of whom are now living. 

(6.) George Henry, born Dec. 18, 1833, married and set- 
tled on the homestead, in Berlin, where he now resides. He has 
had four children, three of whom are now living. 

(7.) Hannah Jane, born Aug. 10, 1835, married Samuel H. 
Hastings, and now resides in Grafton. They have had four 
children. 

(8.) Martha, born March 30, 1837, married and resides in 
Boylston. 

(9.) Asenath Moore, born July 25, 1839, married John F. 
Bartlett, and now resides in Boylston. They have had eleven 
Children, ten of whom are now living. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAI.. 



131 



(10.) David, born Oct. 19, 1842, married Miranda Parker, 
of Boylston, and resides in Shrewsbury. 

Mrs. Barnes was possessed of a strong mind, and an active 
constitution, such as few of her sex can boast. At her death, 
which occurred Sept. 13, 1881, at the age of 82 years, she left 
a large posterity, thei-e being more than two-score of grand- 
children, and over a score of great-grandchildren. 

X. Parker Longley, born Nov 22, 1800, was never pos- 
sessed of firm health, and was obliged to go abroad in his youth, 
following the seas for some years, visiting Nova Scotia, where he 
had relatives, and other places. He married April 30, 1832, and 
settled in Boylston on the place originally belonging to John 
Hastings, and now in the possession of his son, Charles I. Long- 
ley. He was a man respected by his fellow townsmen, a kind 
and obliging neighbor. He had four children, three of whom 
are now living, viz. : 

(1.) Edwin F., born Aug. 29, 1834, married and settled in 
Marlborough, where he was for a time engaged in the manufac- 
ture of boots and shoes, building two large blocks in the center 
of the town for that purpose. He is now the owner of a large 
steam saw and box mill in which he annually manufactures large 
quantities of boot and shoe boxes, and is also engaged in other 
projects. He has had four children, two of whom are now 
living. 

(2.) Charles I., born April 12, 1837, married Olive E. 
Stratton, of Boylston, and settled on the home place. He has 
always taken a lively interest in town affairs, and has held many 
offices of trust and honor, and was seven years one of the Asses- 
sors, two years Collector of Taxes, and on several committees of 
more or less importance. He was the Clerk and one of the 
Trustees of the Boylston Social Library for nearly twenty years, 
and was one of those who urged the establishment of the Boyl- 
ston Public Library, which was in part made up of the Social 
Library, and served on the first Board of Trustees. 

(3.) Ashael P., born Nov. 11, 1840; unmarried and now 
resides in Marlborough. 



132 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

XL Lois Longley, the youngest and last surviving daugh- 
ter of James and Molly Longley, was b©rn May 26, 1805. She 
married Joseph Dudley and settled in Northbridge. She "was a 
woman of more than ordinary ability, with a retentive memory, 
a gift for which the family has been noted. She visited Boylston 
on Centennial Day for, as she then said, the last time. She was 
taken ill before her return, from which sickness she never rallied, 
and died at the house of her daughter, in Grafton, Oct. 6, 1886, 
at the age of 82 years. She had ten children, three ot whom 
are now living, viz. : 

(L) Charles J., born Jan. 13, 1836, married and settled in 
Northbridge. Has two children. 

(2.) Ellen Abbie, born Feb. 28, 1838, married Dea. Perley 
Goddard, and now resides in Grafton. Have had six children, 
five now living. 

(3.) Francis S., born Dec. 17, 1848, married and settled 
on the home place in Northbridge. Has two children. 



TOWN OFFICERS. 



^3iCl786. <i» 1886.sk_ 



SELECTMEN. 



Ezra Beaman, 1786, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 1803-4-5. 

Jonas Temple, 1786, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 
96, 1802. 

Timothy Whitney, 1786, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92. 

Jonathan Fassett, 1786, 90, 1807-8-9-10. 

John Hasting?, 1786. 

Joseph Bigelow, 1787. 

Frederick Albert, 1787. 

Jotham Bush, 1787, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 97, 98, 99, 1803, 
11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23. 

Thomas Keyes, 1788, 89. 

James Holland, 1790, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95. 

Ephraim Beaman, 1793, 94. 

James Longley, 1793, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 1800-1-3-4-5- 
6-7-8-11-12-18-20. 

Aaron Sawyer, 1793, 94, 95, 96, 97, 1800. 

Simon Davis, 1795, 97, 98, 99, 1800-1-2. 

John Crawford, 1796. 

Jonathan Bond, 1797, 1800-1-2-4-5-6-8-9-10-14-15- 
19-20. 

John Andrews, 1798, 1801-2-3-4-5-12-13. 

Oliver Sawyer, 1798, 99, 1800-9-10. 



134 BOTLSTON" CENTENNIAL. 

Samuel Brigham, 1799. 

Joshua Stiles, 1801-2—6-7-8. 

Aaron White, 1803-4-5-6-7-8-9-11-12-13-15-16-17-18- 
19-21-22-23-24. 

John Temple, 1806-7. 

Amariah Sawyer, 1809. 

Benjamin Flagg, 1810, 11, 12, 13. 

Hezekiah Gibbs, 1810, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, 
29, 30. 

Robert Andrews, 1813, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 

36, 37, 38, 39. 

Emory Temple, 1813, 14, 15, 16. 

Thadeus Chenery, 1814. 

Jason Abbott, 1816. 

Nathaniel Lamson, 1817. 

John Howe, 1817, 28. 

Pitt Moore, 1819. 

Daniel Eartshorn, 1820, 21, 22, 23, 24, 34, 35. 

Benjamin Houghton, 1820, 21, 22, 23. 

Gershom Flagg, 18:^1, 22. 

Matthew Davenport, 1821, 22, 23, 24. 

Nathaniel Davenport, 1826, 27, 28, 29,30,31,33,31,35, 

37, 41, 48, 51, 52. 

William H. Moore, 1824, 26, 27, 37, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47. 

Eli Bond, 1824, 25. 

Silas Hastings, 1825, 26, 27, 28. 

Otis Longley, 1825. 

Asaph Andrews, 1827, 28, 29, 30, 31. 

Jotham Andrews, 1827, 28, 31, 32, 33. 

Peter Babcock, 1829, 30. 

Eli B. Lamson, 1831, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39. 

Asa Andrews, 1832, 33, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42. 

Baxter Wood, 1832, 33. 

David F. Bond, 1832. 

Jonathan Flagg, 1835, 36. 

Benjamin Fassett, 1836. 

Elmer Loring, 1836. 

William Tombs, 1837, 38, 43, 44, 45. 



BOYtSTON CENTENiTIAL. 135 

David Kendall, 1838. 

Jothain Howe, 1839, 46. 

Thomas Bond, 1839, 40, 42, 46, 49, 56. 

Dr. John Andrews, 1841, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 56, 
60, 64. 

Levi Flagg, 1841. 

Salem Cobb, 1841. 

Lambert Lamson 1841, 49, 53, 54. 

John T. Cotton, 1812. 

Jotham Hastings, 1842, 43, 44, 45, 50, 55. 

David T. Moore, 1813, 45, 47, 48, 64. 

Dinsmore Ball, 1844, 46. 

Robert Andrews, Jr., 1845, 50, 56, 58, 59, 61, 62, 65. 

John Barnes, 1846, 51, 52, 58, 59. 

Capt. John Andrews, 1851, 52. 

Oliver S. Kendall, 1853, 54, 55, 61. 

Moses W. Wood, 1853, 55. 

Henrj H. Brigham, 1854, 57, 58, 63, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 
72, 73, 74. 

Edward W. Tombs, 1857. 

Azro E. Waterman, 1857, 59, 60, 70. 

Stephen H. Hartshorn, 1860, 61, 62. 

Sylvanus Reed, 1862. 

Horace Kendall, 1863, 65, ^^. 

A. V. R. Proutj, 1863, 65, 66, 67, 68. 

Tertulus Ray, 1864. 

Elmer Shaw, 1866, 67, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81. 

James A. Weeks, 1868, 69. 

Levi L. Flagg, 1869, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 
81, 82, 83, 84. 

Henry V. Wood, 1871, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 83, 84, 85. 

William A. Moore, 1879. 

Edward F. Morrill, 1882, 83. 

George R. Hastings, 1884, 85, 86. 

Fenniman M. Brigham, 1885, 86. 

J. Nelson Ball, 1886. 



1B6 BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

TOWN CLERKS. 

Aaron Sawyer, 1786. 

Jotham Bush, 1787, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 
98, 99. 

James Holland, 1792. 

Aaron White, 1800-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14- 
15-16-17-18-20-21-22-23-24. 

Pitt Moore, 1819. 

Eli Bond, 1825. 

Nathaniel Davenport, 1826 to 1837 inclusive. 

John T. Cotton, 1838 to 1849 inclusive. 

Henry H. Brigham, 1850 to 1886 inclusive. 



TOWN TREASURERS. 

foseph Bigelow, 1786, 87, 88, 89, 90. 

Ezra Beaman, 1791, 92, 93, 94. 

Jotham Bush, 1795, 1812, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 

Timothy Whitney, 1796, 97, 98, 99, 1800-1-2. 

Oliver Sawyer, 1803-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11. 

Aaron White, 1821. 

Joseph Bond, 1822, 33. 

Silas Hastings, 1823, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32. 

Jotham Andrews, 1824. 

Asaph Andrews, 1829. 

Eli B. Lamsom, 1834, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 47. 

Levi Goss, 1840, 41, 46, 48. 

James Andrews, 1842, 43, 44. 

James Hastings, 1845, 50, 51. 

John B. Heywood, 1849. 

Dr. John Andrews, 1852, 64. 

George A. Cotting, 1853. 

John T. Harlow, 1854, 1855. 

Lyman P. Kendall, 1856. 

Robert Hudson, 1857. 

Joseph M. Wright, 1858. 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 137 

Albert W. Andrews, 1859, 60, 61. 

Stephen H. Hartshorn, 1862, 63. 

Theodore Andrews, 1865. 

A. V. R. Prouty, 1866, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75. 

Levi L. Plagg, 1876, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84. 

Walter A. Glazier, 1882. 

George A. Flagg, 1885, 86. 



ASSESSORS. 

Ephraim Bearaan, 1786. 

Jonas Temple, 1786, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 94, 95, 1801. 

Edmund Stiles, 1786. 

Joseph Bigelow, 1787. 

Jamfts Holland, 1787, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94. 

Timothy Whitney, 1788. 

Jotham Bush, 1789, 90, 91, 1802, 10. 

James Longley, 1792, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 1801-"2-3-4- 
11-12-13-16-17-18-21. 

Aaron Sawyer, 1792, 97, 98, 99, 1803-4-5-G-8-9-10- 
13-15. 

Samuel Brigham, 1793, 1800. 

Simon Davis, 1795, 96, 97, 98, 99, 1800-1-2. 

Jacob Hinds, 1796. 

Jonathan Fassett, 1796, 1807-8-9-10-13-14-15. 

Amariah Sawyer, 1800. 

Thomas Keyes, 1803-4. 

Silas Beaman, 1805-6-7. 

Joshua Stiles, 1805. 

John Bond, 1806. 

A.bel Osgood, 1807-8-11-14-16-19. 

Isaac Stone, 1809. 

Jonathan Bond, 1811, 12. 

John Bannister. 1812, 14. 

Oliver Sawyer, 1815, 16, 17, 18. 

Thadeus Chenery, 1817. 



138 BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 

William H. Moore, 1818, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 
37, 38, 39, 42, 48, 14. 

Daniel Hartshorn, 1819, 20, 21, 25, 26, 29, 32, 33, 34, 
35, 37. 

Eli Bond, 1819, 20, 23,24. 

Jotham Andrews, 1822, 80. 

Matthew Davenport, 1824, 27, 28, 30. 

Nathaniel Davenport, 1822, 23, 36, 37, 39, 41, 45, 46, 
50, 51. 

Robert Andrews, 1823, 25, 26. 

Hezckiah Gibbs, 1825, 26, 34, 35. 

Robert Hudson, 1827, 38, 49. 

Peter Babcock, 1827, 35. 

Elmer Loring, 1828. 

Joseph Bond, 1829, 33, 34. 

Asaph Andrews, 1831, 32, 36. 

Otis Longley, 1831. 

Baxter Wood, 1832, 33. 

Lambert Lamson, 1838, 49, 52. 

Joseph Flagg, 1839, 42, 44. 

Eli B. Lamson, 1840, 47, 54. 

Thomas Bond, 1840, 42, 52. 

Dr. John Andrews, 1840, 41, 43. 

David T. Moore, 1841, 51, 56, 57, 58, 60, 63. 

Capt. John Andrews, 1843, 45, 46, 50, 56, 57, 60, 65. 

Robert Andrews, Jr., 1844, 48, 54. 

WiUard Andrews, 1845, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 59. 

Henry H. Brigham, 1847, 48, 53, 57. 

Silas B. Howe, 1849. 

Levi Goss, 1852. 

George A. Getting, 1853. 

John T. Harlow, 1855. 

Moses W. Wood, 1855. 

Levi L. Flagg, 1855, 56, 58, 60, 61, 62, 69, 86. 

Charles Andrews, 1858, 59, 

Horace Kendall, 1859, 61, 62, 69, 70, 71. 

William H. Perry, 1861, 62, 63, 61, 65, 66, 67,68, 69, 70, 
71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85. 



BOTLSTON CENTENNIAL. 139 

Albert W. Andrews, 1863, 64. 

Charles I. Longley, 1864, 65, 66, 67, 68, 76, 78. 

William A. Moore, 1866, 67, 68, 78. 

A. V. R. Prouty, 1870, 71, 72, 73, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84. 

Lyman P. Kendall, 1872, 73. 

Lyman S. Walker, 1874. 

Elmer Shaw, 1874. 

John F. Bartlett, 1875, 76, 82, 83, 84. 

Theodore Andrews, 1875. 

Sumner Moore, 1877. 

James E. Ball, 1877, 86. 

Harvey A. Stowell, 1879, 80. 

Nathan L. Daggett, 1881. 

Everett Kendall, 1885. 

Charles W. Moore, 1885. 

George B. Hall, 1886. 



REPRESENTATIVES TO GENERAL COURT. 

Jonas Temple, 1787, 88, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96. 

Ezra Beaman, 1789, 91. 

James Longley, 1798, 99, 1800-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. 

Jonathan Bond, 1811, 12, 13, 14. 

Jotham Bush, 1815, 16, 17. 

Aaron White, 1818, 19, 21, 22. 

Rev. Ward Cotton, 1827, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. 

Eli B. Lamson, 1837, 38, 39, 40. 

John T. Cotton, 1843, 44, 45. 

Henry H. Brigham, 1848, 80. 

Nathaniel Davenport, 1849. 

Capt. John Andrews, 1851. 

Robert Andrews, 1852, 

Oliver S. Kendall, 1854. 

Rev. William H. Sanford, 1857. 

Dr. John Andrews, 1860. 

Horace Kendall, 1863. 



140 



BOYLSTON CENTENNIAL. 



Henry White, 1869. 
Henry Y. Woods, 1874. 
Levi L. Flagg, 1884. 



DELEGATES TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. 

Jonas Temple, 1788. 

Jonathan Bond, 1820. 

Rev. Daniel S. Whitney, 1853. 




ACKNO WLEDGME N T . 

To the many friends, residents or natives of the 
Town and others, Avho have by personal efifort or con- 
tribution of money, assisted in carrying out the celebra- 
tion and in publishing this volume, the committee would 
return sincere thanks. 

ELMER SHAW, 
JOHN G. WARNER, 
LEVI L. FLAGG, 
LYMAN P. KENDALL, 
WILLIAM A. ANDREWS, 
NATHANIEL L. KENDALL, 
ALBERT W. ANDREWS, 

General Committee. 



